Shadow's Story Yugioh GX
by TranscodeShadowCerberus
Summary: Following the anime storyline my OC shadow share Jay's adventures Rated T for mild swearing
1. Chapter 1

Domino City. Home to some of the world's most famous duelists of Duel Monsters. It housed Seto Kaiba, CEO of the Kaiba Corporation, Joey Wheeler, the self–proclaimed 'Godfather of Games'. And most of all, it housed the King of Games: Yugi Moto. It's also home to the Kaiba Dome where students from all over were applying to go to the prestigious: Duel Academy. And our story begins here.

We see a motorcycle coming up on to the parking lot of the Kaiba Dome and the driver parked his motorcycle and stopped the engine. The driver removed his helmet revealing to be a teenager who is about 17 years old, has jet black hair, slicked back and has icy blue eyes. He was wearing a red & black biker's leather jacket and under it was a black t-shirt with a crimson S on it. To finish off his look, he wore Red denim jeans, with a belt that held his deck of cards, black socks, red tennis shoes, and black fingerless gloves and with him was a robotic dinosaur which the I.D number _**11002(Shade)**_ imprinted on its shoulder, like the boy it was Jet black with translucent red Veins running through the body work.

"Alright boys, time to show these people at Duel Academy what we're made of." The boy smirked evilly as he looked at his deck box.

_"Heh heh hell yeah Shadow." _ A couple of phantom voices chuckled. Yes, Shadow is also gifted with the power to see Duel Monster spirits. He proceeded to the Kaiba Dome arriving at the desk, where people are signing up to be tested to see if they had what it takes to be at Duel Academy. Shadow came up to the desk with a man sitting behind it.

"Greetings young man. How may I help you?" He asked.

"I'm here to apply for Duel Academy." Shadow answered.

"Name?"

"Shadow Nova."

The man took a clipboard from his desk and looked at the list carefully. A few seconds later… "Ah, here you are. Shadow Nova." the man nodded. "Just head inside and when they call you, head to the arena."

"Thanks Mate" Shadow saluted and walked in.

Once inside, he saw a lot of students and examinees around. Some who already finished their exams were already wearing red, yellow, and blue blazer jackets, the blue blazers jackets having coat tails on the bottom. "Wow, there's a lot of people in here." Shadow mused to himself. He also noticed other people wearing clothes other than the red, yellow, and blue jackets. "Must be the ones that applied and finished too."

Down below, Shadow noticed a duel going on between a boy about a year younger than him wearing a grayish–white school uniform and a dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two monsters in defense mode. Gear Golem the Moving Fortress and Big Shield Gardna. The monster opposite of them was a Vorse Raider and there was also a face down card in the Spell/Trap Card Zone.

"Alright new guy. Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring ya down, do you A: throw in the towel, B: beg for mercy, or C: run home to mamma?" The proctor asked.

"I'll go with D: none of the above!" The boy with dark hair announced before pressing a button on his duel disk. "I choose to activate my trap card. You see, with Ring of Destruction I can destroy any monster in attack position and we both take damage equal to its attack points."

A ring of red bombs appeared around the Vorse Raider's neck and exploded on impact.

**Proctor:** 0

**Boy:** 1300

"Clever move." He said. "Welcome to the Academy."

"Thank you oh wise Proctor." The boy bowed.

_'Huh… not bad.'_ Shadow thought.

Up in the stands, he saw three boys wearing Obelisk Blue Academy blazers who also watched the duel as well. "Wow, that guy's pretty good huh, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair and glasses said.

"Guess the rumors about him being some whiz kid were true, huh Chazz?" The boy on the other side said.

"He's a punk." The person in the middle called Chazz scoffed. "We went to Duel prep school for the past three years. We're ready for the Academy. These kids don't know what they're getting into. But they'll learn… the hard way, the Chazz Princeton way."

_'Chazz Princeton, huh? With an attitude like that, I might have to change your tune when we duel.' _Shadow thought.

**"Shadow Nova, please report to Dueling Field #1. I repeat, Shadow Nova. Dueling Field # 1."** A voice over the PA announced.

"And that's my cue." Shadow said to himself as he headed over to his assigned field.

Meanwhile, in another part of the dome a short, a light blue–haired boy also got finished watching the last duel as another teenager with brown hair commented on it. "Wow, that guy really tore it up." He said.

"Yeah, Bastion Misawa; they said he got a perfect score on his written exams out of all of us new applicants." The light–blue haired boy said.

"Wow really? I barely made it through mine. Oh yeah, name's Jaden!"

"My name's Syrus, nice to meet ya." Syrus then looked somewhat depressed. "I kinda have a thing where I get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my duel."

"So you're in! Congratulations!" Jaden praised patting Syrus on the back. "I will be too as soon as I have my duel."

"Wait, you mean you haven't dueled yet?" Syrus asked shocked.

"Nope." Jaden replied.

"That might be a problem. There's one more duel after Bastion's and it's the last one." Syrus explained.

"HUH?!" Jaden exclaimed.

Shadow rose up from an elevated platform with the robot dinosaur by his side. Shade growled when it saw the opponent "Easy Shade" Shadow calmed. In front of him was a man wearing the purple blazer with a coat tail. It was one of the proctors.

"Alright, applicant. Name?" The proctor asked.

"Shadow Nova." He replied back respectfully.

"Alright then Shadow, you know the rules: you win, you're in. If not, better luck next year." The proctor said strapping up his duel disk.

"Oh, I'll be in this year. I guarantee it." Shadow smirked as he took out his deck out of his deck box. "Shade!" Shadow called putting his fist up in the air. The robots tail flew off and transformed into Shadow's Duel disk. It was still jet black but when he put his cards in red veins lit up. Then the rest of the robot attached itself to Shadows back as a counter weight.

The whole arena gasped when they saw this transformation take place.

"Well that was an interesting display" The proctor exclaimed

"Thanks, Shade is my partner, she is also my guardian and my closest friend" Shadow explained

"Well lets see how you and your partner duel shall we?" The proctor asked

"Bring it!" Shadow said

"DUEL!"

**Shadow:** 4000

**Proctor:** 4000

"Since you're the one applying, you have the first move." The Proctor offered.

"Thanks. Don't mind if I do. Draw!" Shadow declared drawing his sixth card. He looked at his hand and smiled at what he got. "Nice… Alright, for my first move, I'll summon Shadow Hero:Dark Horse in ATK mode!" Shadow declared placing his card on the tray. At that point a man in a Jet black cape appeared with a stallion that had gleaming red eyes at his side (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600).

"Huh?" The Proctor blinked. "I've never seen that card before."

"_No_ one has. These Shadow Hero's cards just recently came out." Shadow explained.

Zane Truesdale and Alexis Rhodes looked down at the beginning duel between a proctor and an applicant. Both were idly casting glances, but when the applicant had summoned his first monster, both were trained on the new monster and the one controlling it.

"Shadow Hero?" asked Alexis. "Never heard of them before."

"If what he says is true, then probably, like he said, _no_ one has." Zane reasoned. "Looks strong enough, but there is probably more to them than meets the eye."

"Hey Chazz," one of the boys in blue asked one Chazz Princeton as they watched the duel. "Ever heard of a Shadow Hero's before?"

"Must be a new Archetype or something," Chazz shrugged. "Who cares? Let the rejects duel with what they want."

"Still, maybe there's something about them we don't know?" Another one of Chazz's friend's stated.

_'A new deck of never before seen monsters, hmm?'_ Bastion thought, showing a thoughtful emotion. _'That would certainly give him the edge…'_ he added as he sat down in a seat to where Jaden and Syrus were.

"Wonder where he got them." Syrus wondered.

"They kinda sound like monsters I got in my deck." Jaden added, and got a big grin on his face. "Wouldn't mind battling that guy and his cards!". He then noticed Bastion sitting next to them. "Hey there Bastion. Tight duel out there!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Thank you." Bastion said politely.

"From the looks of things, you could be the second best duelist here!" Jaden said, confusing Bastion. "And that guy's probably gonna be the third best since you already got the second best position. Who is he anyway?"

"Shadow Nova." Bastion answered. "I've heard he has the second highest score in the written exam."

"Guys, talk later!" Syrus jumped in, turning their attention back to the duel.

_"Well i take it this is our opponent my friend?"_ Dark Horse said.

"Yep but i've got some bad news for you guys"Shadow said

"_And what might that be?_" Dark Horse asked

"Well because I went first I can't attack but since your the only one out." Shadow said.

_"It's is lucky that i am not _her_"_ Dark horse Chuckled.

_'That guy can talk to his Monsters too?'_ Jaden thought.

"I'll end my turn." Shadow said.

"Hmm… interesting. New cards or not, let's just see if you can beat me," the Proctor stated. "My turn! Draw!" The Proctor drew a card and added it to his hand. Then he took a card from the other side he continued. "I summon Red Gadget in ATK mode!" On the field, a red and silver machine appeared. Its body consisted of gears (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500). "Now, Red Gadget's effect activates. When it is Normal Summoned, I can add a Yellow Gadget from my Deck to my Hand." The proctor took out his deck from his duel disk and searched through it. He then showed Shadow the card to prove it and then shuffled the deck. "Lastly, I put two cards face down and end my turn. You're up kid."

"My turn! Draw!" Shadow declared and drew his next card. "Alright, let's have another one come out. I summon Shadow Hero:Dark Beserker in ATK mode!" A man with a Crimson Red cape took the field he wore no shirt and long black jeans (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000).

_"Welcome my brother you took your time."_ Dark Horse said.

_"Better late than never ."_ The second Shadow Hero said said.

"Alright Dark Horse, attack! Take out Red Gadget!" Shadow said.

"I activate my face down, Waboku!" The face down card on the left flipped up and showed a magenta card with a picture of three women in holy robes on it. "Until the end of this turn, I receive no damage and none of my monsters are destroyed. That was good try though kid." The three robed women appeared and Dark Horse stopped in his tracks.

_"Classic move." _Dark Horse Smiled

"I'll end my turn there."

"My turn." The Proctor drew a card and stared at it. "First off I activate the Spell Card, Double Summon. For this turn, I can normal summon up to two monster. So first off I summon Yellow Gadget!" Next to Red Gadget, a similar looking monster appeared, except the color scheme was yellow (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200). "Now his effect activates. When Yellow Gadget is summoned, I can add one Green Gadget from my Deck to my Hand."

Once again the Proctor looked through his deck and got his card. He then shuffled it and returned it to his duel disk. After that the Proctor grabbed another card in his hand. "Now I summon Machina Gearframe in ATK mode!" Next to the other two machines was a skinny orange and silver robot with an overly large orange helmet (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 0). "Now I'll use his effect to add one Machina monster to my Hand from my Deck, and I choose Machina Fortress."

After adding the card to his hand, the Proctor said, "Next I equip Gearframe to my Red Gadget." The orange machine attached itself to Red Gadget, similar to that of a screw into a bolt. "Lastly I put one card face down and end my turn."

_'He's got something planned. I know it. And that facedown would probably help him too.'_ Shadow thought. "It's my turn!" Shadow declared and drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck." Shadow drew his two cards. _'This works.'_ "I summon Shadow Hero: City Slicker!"

A man with smart black pants and a black shirt Appeared as the name was said (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500). Once he did appear almost every girl fainted at the sight of him.

_"Ah more adoring fans huh? Well they won't be screaming with pleasure once I attack."_ The new monster smiled

_"Ahh you just can't resist can you brother." _Dark horse chuckled

"Yeah yeah yeah let us get on with the show with the spell card Double Summon now I can summon Shadow Hero: Princess of Darkness in ATK mode!"

A young lady appeared wearing a Jet black One-Piece with a large skirt covering her legs (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1800)

_"Oh you just had to summon me in front of a bunch of guys didn't you oh well least I get to attack"_

"Now, Princess, attack Red Gadget with Darkness Kiss!" Shadow sighed with exasperation

_"OK if I must"_ the Shadow Hero pouted.

"Not so fast kiddo! I activate my Trap Card, Dimensional Prison! This banishes your attacking monster!" the Proctor shouted as he revealed one of his face downs.

"That won't work. I activate my Princess's ability! Once per turn, I can negate the effects of a trap card that target this monster during the battle phase and destroy it!" Shadow countered.

"What!?"

The Princess warrior, ducked under the Yellow Gadget first and kissed the trap card destroying it. She then turned around and Kissed Yellow Gadget which melted into a puddle. "Guh!" The Proctor exalamed.

**Shadow:** 4000

**Proctor:** 2200

"I'm not done yet! Dark Horse do your thing!" Shadow told the now spear wielding warrior. The warrior nodded his head, and attached something to his spear then threw it at the proctors monster.

**Shadow:** 4000

**Proctor:** 1300

When the smoke cleared it showed that Red Gadget was still standing, but lying next to it was a broken Machina Gearframe.

_"What happened?"_ City Slicker asked, scratching his head in the process. _"I thought the attack hit!"_

"When a Union monster is equipped to a monster on the field, it is destroyed instead of the monster it is equipped to," the proctor informed the Hero. Even though he said that, the proctor felt odd talking to a hologram. He just chalked it up to the boy knowing ventriloquism.

"It doesn't matter CS," Shadow interrupted. "Just destroy that thing! Destroy that pile of junk!"

City slicker took a cane out of nowhere he then transformed into a demon and slashed the monster. When the smoke cleared, Red Gadget was still on the field. Red energy was dancing around it.

_"What?!"_ City Slicker and Beserker shouted. _"Hey that's cheating! Why is that thing still on the field!?"_ City Slicker asked.

"My other trap card," the Proctor smirked. He nodded over towards the second face down card. It was none other than Magic Cylinder. "You should know what this does right? If you don't I'll just tell you. When this card is activated, I can negate one of your attacks this turn. Not only that, I can redirect the damage back towards you." Two cylinders came out from the card. One started absorbing the energy that was surrounding his monster. When it disappeared into the cylinder, it shot out the attack toward Shadow. The force of the attack shot the boy back about a foot.

**Shadow:** 1800

**Proctor:** 1300

"Shadow!" all four Heros shouted. The boy stood up straight and shook off the attack.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he informed them. "I end my turn."

"Oh man, that attack backfired at him." Syrus said with worry.

"Good, now I draw!" the Proctor announced. After drawing his card he showed it to the boy. "I activate Pot of Greed, which like you know lets me draw two more cards." Drawing again, the Proctor smiled slowly. "First I use the effect of my Machina Fortress! By sending monsters whose levels add up to 8 from my Hand I can Special Summon it onto the field." The man discarded a card and special summoned yet another machine. This time it was a three wheeled tank machine. It was blue in color and had two mechanical hands on the each side with a large cannon on the left side. (7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1600)

"Next I use Monster Reborn! This lets me summon a monster from either graveyard, and I choose the monster that I just sent there! Come forth, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" The stone floor broke open and out flew an old looking machine. It was made up of several gears that seemed rusted and it was in the shape of a dragon. (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

Several of the students watching gasped. "Hey, did you know that they had that card in one of the proctor's test decks?" Alexis asked Zane. The older boy stared at the battlefield without saying a word, intent on finding out the potential of the boy on the battlefield.

"My word!" Bastion gasped.

"You're telling me!" Syrus added. "That's one big dragon!"

"Dragon, destroy his City Slicker while Fortress attack's Princess!"

The large dragon flew up into the sky and fired down a beam of grey energy. The attack hit its mark, and City slicker just shrugged.

**Shadow:** 600

**Proctor:** 1300

The machine next to it gathered energy into its cannon and fired it. And Princess did the same thing. Shadow was once again shot backwards and fell onto a knee from the force of both attacks.

**Shadow:** 100

**Proctor:** 1300

"Looks like this duel is just about wrapped up." Chazz said smugly. "That kid ain't nothing special."

"And since we're at Main Phase 2, I'll activate the Spell, Lightning Vortex! By discarding one from my hand, I can destroy all Monsters on your side of the field!" A vortex of lightning appeared and tried to swallow up his monsters.

"Why are your monsters still on the field? I thought I destroyed them?" the Procter asked confused.

"You did but they remain as spirits and return in two turns with 100 more points"

"Aw man, he's down to his last 100 points." Syrus said with worry.

"Relax Sy, I'm sure he's got this." Jaden assured him. "He just has to draw the right card."

"And the probability of that is slim to none." Bastion added.

"I end my turn." The proctor noticed that Shadow had his head down and his shoulders were shaking. "Hey you can give up you know. You can always try next year." But then the proctor started to hear laughter and Shadow brought his head up.

"Sorry, but I don't intend to lose. I'm gonna attend this Academy and that's what I'll do!" Shadow said drawing his next card. He looked at it, his hand, and his facedown card. He then Gained an evil look in his eye.

"I wonder what you would do if i told you that my Heros had another ability?"

"And what is that?" the Procter asked not liking were this was going

"While they are in spirt form they can still be used as tributes" Shadow explains "and that is what is going to end this duel, I Sacrifice Princess of Darkness and City Slicker to summon Shadow Hero: Dark Kratos!"

A godly like figure appeared from the shadows he dragged a huge sword across the stage (7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1500)

"And when Kratos is summoned You take 1000 Damage"

"Oh My" the Proctor gasped as his life points went down

**Shadow:** 100

**Proctor:** 300

"Then I'll activate Beserker's Ability That removes him from the game as well as every monster my opponent has out and deals 200 points of damage to you for every monster you remove"

**Shadow: **100

**Proctor:** 0

The holograms disappeared and the Proctor recovered from the last ability and said, "Congratulations applicant. Welcome to Duel Academy."

"Thank you." Shadow bowed As shade transformed back into A dinosaur.

"No way…" Chazz growled. "A guy with made–up cards won?"

"Alright, he won!" Syrus cheered.

"Sure did, that proctor got nailed!" Jaden grinned.

"At least there's proper competition coming along." Bastion smiled, impressed with the duelist's victory.

"This guy is interesting," Alexis smiled, "He should be a good opponent…"

"Only time will tell." Zane said.

"Right below them, in the VIP seats for Academy faculty members, the teachers watched as Shadow left the dueling arena. "Looks like we've got a pretty good crop this year." One of them said.

"Yes, indeed." Another teacher agreed.

Also right next to them, another teacher sat there silent not paying attention to the other teachers' talk. He's male, but could easily be mistaken as a woman if you didn't know who he was. He wore a blue blazer similar to Chazz but had some gold shoulder plates and trimmings along with a ruffled pink collar. He also had his blonde hair in a ponytail and wore makeup. This was Dr. Vellian Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm.

_'Another rookie for the Academy.'_ He thought dismissively. _'I'm just glad that this was the last duel, otherwise there could be more slackers coming in, too.'_

He was about to get up and leave when…

"I'm sorry to interrupt." A man in a black, business suit appeared stopping Crowler from leaving. "But one last applicant has arrived to take his exam, Mr. Crowler."

"Excuse me? Did you just call me, 'mister'?" Crowler scowled.

"I'm sorry. I'm new here Miss…"

"I have a Ph.D. in dueling to earn the title 'Doctor' thank you!" Crowler snapped a bit. He then looked away. "Now tell the truant that he'll have to come back next year." The other teachers looked at him like he lost his mind.

"Come on, Dr. Crowler, we have time for one more."

"Yes, let's give this duelist his shot."

"He was just a bit late, that's all."

"LATE IS _RUDE_!" Crowler finally snapped. He slammed his hands down, freaking out the other people around him. "I HAVE NO TIME FOR SLACKERS!" Just then his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it "WHAT!?"

_"It's Sheppard."_

"Oh, Chancellor Sheppard, how nice of you to call." Crowler said, suddenly changing his angry tone to a pleasant one.

_"Just calling to make sure everything is running smoothly."_ Chancellor Sheppard said. _"We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year."_ That made Crowler bug out a bit. _"When you cut a third of our student applicants because someone called you 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.'? Never mind, just make sure everyone gets a fair shot!"_

"Yes, o–of course, sir." Crowler said as he hung up scowling. _'Furry–chinned windbag; doesn't he realize that there are enough talentless flunkies at this Academy? But he's the boss, and if he wants to give this scrim shaker a duel…fine.'_ He then got up from his seat. "Pardon me, gentlemen, I'll be right back." He said then starting walking away.

"But sir, who will be the boy's dueling proctor? And which exam deck should we use?"

Crowler just huffed and walked away. "Leave that to me." He pulled out a deck from inside his blazer, grinning evilly.

Back with Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion, they were waiting around until Shadow showed up.

"Hey man, that was one sweet duel!" Jaden said excited running up to Shadow.

"Thanks." Shadow said. "Name's Shadow Nova and this is Shade" he said indicating the dinosaur who nuzzled up to him purring

"Jaden Yuki!" He said and the boys shook hands.

"I'm Syrus Truesdale." The light–blue haired introduced.

"And I'm Bastion Misawa, the duelist that went before you went to duel."

"Nice to meet you guys." Shadow said back.

**"Jaden Yuki, please report to Dueling Field # 4."** The PA announced again**. "Jaden Yuki, to Dueling Field # 4."**

"Go time!" Jaden said as he got ready to go. "Wish me luck, guys."

"Wait! Before you go, what did you mean by me being the second best duelist and Shadow being the third best? Who's the first?" Bastion asked.

Jaden pointed his thumb to himself. "Why yours truly!" He grinned. "It's what I'm best at." He then continued his stride down to the exam floor.

"Third–best?" Shadow asked confused looking at Bastion.

"Long story." Bastion answered.

"Jaden sure is confident though." Syrus noticed.

"He's going to need to be." Bastion said, pointing to the exam field in question. "Look who's he up against…" Bastion, Syrus, and Shadow looked to see the ponytailed Headmaster.

"Who's she?" Shadow questioned.

"_He_ is Dr. Crowler; he's in charge of these exams and also the head of the top dorm in the Academy." Bastion replied.

"That's a guy?!" Shadow gaped.

"Yes. And I've heard that last year, he cut a third of the applicants they called him either 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.'."

"Wow…"

"It's about to start." Syrus said gaining their attention.

On the field, Dr. Crowler was being prepped and ready to duel. The duel disk he was equipped with looked as though it was crafted into his blazer. The part that held his graveyard and deck slots was strapped to his chest, while the duel tray looked as though it was being held up like a guitar. In fact, the duel tray itself looked almost like a rock guitar itself. Jaden rose up from a platform and was on the duel field

"Alright, test time!" Crowler said looking at Jaden. "So, son, your name?"

Jaden stood at attention like a soldier and replied, "Uh… Jaden, Jaden Yuki."

"Well 'Uh, Jaden Yuki', I'm Doctor Vellian Crowler, Department Chair and Techniques Professor here at Duel Academy."

"Wow." Jaden said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hearty laugh. "A Department chair, I had no idea. From the way you were dressed I thought you were some kind of Academy mascot." Crowler sweat dropped at that comment.

"Now that he mentions it," The boy wearing glasses next to Chazz said.

"This guy's got some lip, huh Chazz?" The other said.

Chazz just looked on as he didn't like what Jaden was saying to Dr. Crowler.

"Duel Vest On!" Crowler said activating it and drew his five cards. Jaden was just amazed by the machinery.

"Hey, that's some sweet gear, teach. How do I get one of those?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, a lot of hard work, high marks and dedication." Crowler answered. 'Of course, you have to be accepted first. Which I will make sure you don't.'

"Well, I'm ready!" Jaden said activating his duel disk.

"So let's duel!" Both players shouted as both players drew their starting hands.

**Crowler:** 4000

**Jaden:** 4000

"Here goes!" Jaden said as he drew his first card and looked at his hand. "Sweet, I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in DEF mode!" As he placed the card horizontally on the field, a green feathered man with a pair of wings appeared and knelt down (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "I'll also throw down a facedown." A reverse card appeared on the field.

"Huh… so he runs Elemental Heroes." Shadow stated. "Those cards are hard to use properly."

_"__**Yeah you had trouble with them yourself"**_ Shade's robotic voice rang out.

"Oh will you ever let that go Shade" Shadow Groaned

"Woah the robot talks" Syrus gasped.

"Well yeah she is my partner' Shadow grinned.

"Alright, get your game on!" Jaden said excitedly.

"Yes, of course." Dr. Crowler said dismissively as he drew his sixth card. _'Don't tell me what to do.'_ He then took a look at his hand. _'After all, since I'm using my own personal deck rather than those puny test ones, I'll be calling all the shots. I'll fail that miserable little brat and send him home in no time flat.'_ "I think I'll start out nice and easy, by playing the Spell Card, Confiscation!"

"Okay, so what's it do?" Jaden asked.

"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points to take a look at your hand and toss one of your cards to the graveyard." As his explanation finished, holographic images of Jaden's cards appeared. They were Monster Reborn, The Warrior Returning Alive, Hero Signal, and Polymerization.

**Crowler:** 3000

**Jaden:** 4000

"Ah yes, I remember some of these when _I_ was a naïve rookie. Now which one shall I banish?" He asked looking at each card. "I know, Monster Reborn to the graveyard!" Jaden's Monster Reborn card was sent there. "Next I'll set two cards face down." Two reverse cards appeared on the field. "And last, but not least, I play Heavy Storm! This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field." A heavy wind picked up and Jaden's facedown was destroyed along with Crowler's two facedown cards.

"Whoopsie, did you forget that you had two cards on the field as well?" Jaden said teasingly.

"Now, now, young scholar, you mustn't speak out–of–turn." Crowler waggled his finger. After that dark clouds began to form around his side of the field.

"Hey, what's happening?"

"Nothing's happening. Not _yet_ anyway!" Crowler grinned. Two yellow worm–like creatures appeared on his side of the field. "But that's about to change."

The audience was awestruck by these two monsters but Syrus was confused, again. "Could someone tell me what's happening?"

"Those two trap cards that Dr. Crowler had out on the field were called Statue of the Wicked." Bastion explained as he observed the duel with Syrus. "It's a special trap card that creates a vicious monster token when it's destroyed by a card effect. That's why he played Heavy Storm."

"And I'm already seeing a few red lights on this too." Shadow grimaced. "That ain't no test deck Crowler's using. Test decks don't have cards like Heavy Storm and Confiscation. Those are rare cards."

"Of course! And they can change the tide of battle without any serious costs!" Bastion realised.

"Meaning?" Syrus asked.

"Crowler's probably using his personal deck." Shadow answered. "This guy doesn't want Jaden to enter the Academy."

And he wasn't the only one who came to the same conclusion.

"Crowler must be using his own deck in this duel." The boy with glasses said.

"Then this duel is over. No one can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler." The other boy said.

"I think I'm going to enjoy Crowler wiping the floor with that kid. I just wish they treated all the other second–rate duelists that apply at this academy the same way."

"What an elitist snob." Alexis said, "Bullying some kid with his very best cards."

"You're too soft, Alexis." Zane spoke up. "I just hope we get to see that legendary rare card Crowler had stashed in that deck of his."

"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler asked Jaden.

"You bet! I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!" Jaden laughed excitedly.

Crowler simply regarded it negatively. "Yes, well I am quite the teacher, thank you." His monsters then started to glow and started writhing in flames. "And now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" The worm-like creatures disappeared and a giant robotic monster with exposed working gears appeared. The audience members were in awe of the sight of the monster. (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000)

"That's it, that's his legendary card!" Alexis gasped.

"Now it looks like we're about to find out what makes it so legendary." Zane added.

"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said sarcastically towards Jaden.

"No way, I've always wanted to take one on!" Jaden said excited. He looked like he had Christmas and his birthday in one day.

This shocked many people in the arena, including Syrus. "Either Jaden's really brave or he's nuts!"

"He could be both." Shadow added.

"He's staring down that legendary rare monster like he doesn't have a care in the world." Zane said incredulously. "I guess youth and inexperience does have its benefits after all."

"Give it a rest, Zane." Alexis said. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."

"There won't be much to show after this."

Dr. Crowler cackled as he ordered, "Golem attack, Mechanized Melee!" His Ancient Gear Golem's red eye glowed slightly before pulling back its fist and punched Jaden's Avian to pieces.

"Oh man, Jaden's defense monster didn't stand a chance!" Syrus complained. "It's ATK points were way too low. This doesn't look good."

"And it's about to look a whole lot worse." Bastion added. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a Monster in DEF mode, the difference between its ATK points and the defending monster's DEF points are dealt to the opponent as Damage."

"But that would mean that Jaden's Life Points are gonna take a hit!" Syrus realised.

"Yeah, and Piercing Damage is a pain in the ass when it's used against ya." Shadow muttered. A transparent version of Ancient Gear Golem's fist then slammed through Jaden's body.

**Crowler:** 3000

**Jaden:** 2000

Crowler noticed that Jaden's body was shaking. "Now don't feel bad." He taunted, "This is the top dueling school in the country, some people simply aren't…" Crowler's voice trailed off as he then started hearing Jaden laughing."

"Now I _really_ wanna come to this school now! You really know your stuff teach!" Jaden said excitedly.

This took Crower by surprise before scowling angrily. _'Doesn't he take a hint? He will not be permitted to pass this exam! And he will certainly not make a mockery of _my_ deck!'_

_'Just look at him tremble.'_ Jaden thought as he reached to draw a card from his Deck. _'He must really be impressed by me!'_ But just as he was about to draw his card, he heard a faint cooing sound. He paused for a second before drawing the card and taking a look at it. _'Winged Kuriboh?'_ He then remembered that it was the card a guy he bumped into gave to him.

Flashback

_"Something tells me that it belongs with you."_

End Flashback

_'You know, something tells me I'm starting to believe that too.'_ Then, whether if it was his imagination or not, he noticed that the card actually winked at him! He blinked at first making sure he wasn't seeing things, but got over his shock as it wore off and then made his decision_. 'I guess that's a sign that I should play ya.'_ "Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in DEF mode!" When he declared that, a small furry creature with for green paws and a pair of angelic wings appeared above its card image (1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200). "Next, I play a facedown. Not bad, huh, teach?"

Crowler simply laughed at this. "No, not bad, but you must understand that I'm a master technician." He teased Jaden. "A Kuriboh to me is rather pedestrian; even one with wings its DEF points are no match for my Ancient Gear Golem! It's a textbook mistake, so let's proceed." He then drew his next card. "Okay Ancient Gear Golem, attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!"

The giant Ancient Gear monster reared back a fist and threw a punch at the tiny creature and shattered the hologram to pieces.

_'Sorry Winged Kuriboh.'_ Jaden muttered in his thoughts.

But Dr. Crowler noticed that Jaden's life points hadn't dropped. "Check your gear, your Life Points haven't changed."

"My gear's fine." Jaden shrugged. "On the turn that Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero Damage!" That actually took Crowler by surprise. Even some of the audience members were stunned that Crowler didn't know that.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Man, when will people like him ever stop underestimating the Kuriboh's?" Shadow cracked up with his face up and covering his eyes.

_**"Yes sir the Kuriboh line is possibly the most picked on due to all the weak monsters in Kuriboh decks" **_Shade Monologged.

"Well how about that. A technique the good doctor _didn't_ know." Alexis said.

"No one can expect to know every technique, Alexis. Especially one as obscure as that." Zane argued.

"Yeah, well _that_ kid sure knew it." Alexis countered with a slight laugh.

"Fine, fine, I guess your little lame monster saved you there." Crowler taunted.

"Whoa, slow down there, teach! Just because you beat him doesn't give you the right to call him lame!" Jaden snapped.

"Oh yeah, I forgot how you new duelists get attached to your monsters." Crowler taunted again. "I'm sorry."

"You _should_ be sorry." Jaden said as he pressed a button on his duel disk. "Because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh you set off my trap card, one of my favourites too, Hero Signal!" As his trap card activated, a spotlight with a unique 'H' symbol appeared on the ceiling. "And that lets me bring out my second Elemental Hero. Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" He said taking the card from his deck and placing it on the tray. From a column of red flames a gray–skinned woman in a red body–suit appeared (3/ATK: 1200/ATK: 800). "Now it's my move!" He said drawing his next card he then looked at his hand. "Okay, Winged Kuriboh, this one's for you! First I'll bring Avian back to my hand with the Spell Card, The Warrior Returning Alive." The card came out of the graveyard slot of his duel disk. "And now, I'll summon him to the field!" Avian reappeared on the field.

"Oh, okay, another amateurish mistake, but this is good, this is good, now would anyone like to tell me what our little friend here…" Crowler began to taunt.

"I didn't say I was done yet." He said. "See, I know that my two monsters aren't very powerful by themselves, but if I can form them together it's another story! And I have just the card to unite them! Go Polymerization!" Jaden said showing the card to Crowler and then playing it. The two Elemental Heroes leapt up into the air and started to swirl together as the effects of Polymerization activated. "Fusion Summon!" After they fused, a new monster appeared that had some features Avian and Burstinatrix. It had one of Avian's wings along with a few of Burstinatrix's colours. The only thing new was a dragon–like hand on its left arm (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200). "And there he is, Elemental Hero Flame–Wingman! Hope your Golem's ready for a Clash of the Titans!"

"I must say, you're dueling quite well for an amateur but next time try summoning a monster with more ATK points than the one that's already out." Crowler said.

"What does he mean by that?" Syrus asked.

"He means that the Wingman's ATK points are lower than the Golem's 3000 ATK points." Bastion answered. "A shame too, because that Elemental Hero of Jaden's has a very powerful ability."

"Well, let's hope that lone card in his hand can help him." Shadow added.

"Alright, young scholar. I don't mean to rush you but I am a very busy man… Are you done yet?" Crowler sighed.

"Of course I'm not done yet!" Jaden replied as he took the card he drew and opened up the Field Spell Zone. "And, of course, I knew my Wingman had less ATK points than your golem. That's why I'm activating the Field Spell, Skyscraper!" After he played the card, buildings and skyscrapers literally, sprouted up from the field. In the middle of the cityscape, Crowler's Golem looked like a giant monster attacking the city itself while Jaden's Wingman was perched on top of the highest building's steeple roof's lightning rod with its arms crossed.

"Whew…" Shadow whistled. "Hello New York City."

"Alright, Flame Wingman!" Jaden called out. "Time to show those heroics! Attack that Ancient Gear Golem with Skydive Scorcher!" After he announced that, Flame Wingman jumped from the building it stood on and dove towards it.

"Fine, bring him on." Crowler said not worried. "This field spell of yours hasn't lowered a single ATK point of my Golem!" Flame Wingman then landed on the pavement in front of the Ancient Gear Golem before leaping up into the air again.

"You're right, teach. What it's done is raise my Flame Wingman's ATK by a grand total of 1000 ATK points!"

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman – (6/ATK: 2100–3100/DEF: 1200)

"Wait Time Out!" Crowler shrieked, but it didn't stop Flame Wingman from attacking as it launched itself at the Ancient Gear Golem as flames covered its body. Crowler looked like he was having a heart attack as Flame Wingman slammed into Ancient Gear Golem, breaking into pieces.

**Jaden:** 2000

**Crowler:** 2900

"No, he was my best card!" Crowler complained before a piece of debris fell on his head.

"And I don't want to forget my Wingman's super power. You see, when Wingman destroys a Monster in battle, the ATK points of that Monster are dealt as Damage to your Life Points. Sweet huh." The crumbled pieces of Ancient Gear Golem fell on top of Crowler, who tried to get away but failed, burying him and depleting his Life Points.

**Jaden:** 2000

**Crowler:** 0

"And that's game!" Jaden announced doing a two finger salute with his index and middle finger. "So, I guess I passed the test, huh teach?" The holograms faded, a lot of people were actually stunned. First Shadow with strange Abilities strategy and now a rookie beating an expert teacher, who used his own personal deck!

"Impossible… There's no way this delinquent could've beat me!" Crowler growled.

"It must be dumb luck!" Chazz said with the same expression when he watched Shadow's duel. "No way Crowler would lose to some flunky!"

Alexis smiled at Jaden's victory. "This kid's definitely got a future here, wow." She then saw Zane walking away.

"Yay! Jaden won!" Syrus cheered.

"Nice! He took down that Golem with a bang!" Shadow smirked with his teeth showing.

_'Nice. I could use some competition.'_ Bastion thought smiling at Jaden's victory while the latter did a victory dance. After that, Jaden took out and looked at the Winged Kuriboh card. "We made it!" He said. "And from here on in, we're gonna be partners." Again, Jaden could've sworn he heard Winged Kuriboh coo and wink at him


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Welcome to Duel Academy!

It's been three days since the entrance exams. It was early in the morning and Shadow was at his house and was just about ready to go to the Kaiba Dome where the helicopter will take them to Duel Academy. He was walking in his living room with his luggage which consist of extra clothes like shirts and a pairs of pants along with bathroom accessories, along with a backpack of minor school supplies like pencils, erasers, notebooks, etc. and of course Shade and deck in tow and was about to head out the door until he saw a standing picture frame on a small table next to his couch. It had a picture of him as a kid all smiling a goofy smile and next to him was a gorgeous young lady. He solemnly looked at the picture as he took it.

_'Sis… I'll find you… wherever you are…'_ Shadow thought. Just then, a faint image of Kratos showed up.

_"Shadow. We need to get going."_ Kratos said kindly.

"Yeah, I know…" Shadow said still looking at the photo.

_"You're still thinking about your sister aren't you?"_ Shadow nodded. _"Don't worry; I'm sure she's out there somewhere."_

"I know, but… it's already been three years since he's vanished and still… nothing…" Just then City Slicker, Princess of Darkness, and Beserker, appeared in spirit form too.

_"Oi, there's no need to get mopey Shadow,"_ City Slicker reassured him. _"With us by your side there is nothing you can't do."_

_"Slick is right,"_ Princess of Darkness stated. _"We will find your Sister no matter what."_

_"You see Shadow,"_ Kratos once again spoke, _"You have nothing to fear. We, the cards your father made, will stand by you through and through. Not only that,"_ Kratos turned his head towards the Shadow Hero and a second deck as a faint glow of multicolored light was emitted from them, _"all the others will help too."_

Shadow smiled at their words. The duel spirits within his deck, his friends, were all cheering for him and supporting him. What sort of guy would stay sad at that? "You guys are right. This isn't a time to be sad. I got into Duel Academy! Let's go there and kick some ass! I'm sure Sis would be proud of me!" The four current spirits cheered and nodded their heads before disappearing. Turning his head back to the picture once more he gave it a confident smile. "I'll find you Sis and the cards you made will help me on the way." Grabbing his two Decks and putting them into the deck holder's on his belt, Shadow grabbed his luggage and left the house he's lived in.

Soon Shadow got to the front of the Kaiba Dome where all the other students were and boarded the helicopter that was in front of it. Shadow sat next to Bastion while Syrus next to Jaden, who was sleeping during the trip.

_"Attention new Academy Duelists. This is your captain speaking. If you look out your window you'll see your new home away from home."_ Shadow and most of the students did just that as they saw an island clear in their sights. It was mainly green due to most of the island being forest areas and even saw a dormant volcano. But what stuck out, was the building in the center of the island. It was silver color, surrounded by four tan Obelisk like pillars. And there were three dishes in the middle; a blue, yellow and red one in that order going diagonally down. _"Next stop, Academy Island! Please fasten your seatbelts and sit in an upright position as we make our landing."_

As soon as it landed, the Freshman class immediately went to the gym to get their school equipment, such as their PDA, or Duel Pilots as they call it, and the blazers jackets they'll be wearing. Shadow, was given a yellow blazer, which would mean that Shadow is in Ra Yellow. Shade got a custom made collar with the symbol of ra that will allow her to access ant database on the island and allow her into duel disk mode. Bastion was in it too. Shadow looked to Jaden and Syrus, and they were given Red blazers, meaning they were in Slifer Red. He looked to other students and saw that some of them were wearing blue blazers, but it had coat tails on the bottom, indicating they were in Obelisk Blue. And he also got offers the Duel Academy issued Duel Disk but he refused in favour of Shade and his custom duel Disk. After about half an hour or so of getting that settled, Shadow, who is now wearing his new yellow blazer unbuttoned now showing a black shirt with the Crimson S logo, and the Freshman class got into what appears to be some kind of college lecture class that you would see in a University. In front of them was a large screen and soon enough, a person's face appeared. He was a bald man with a grey beard and looked to be in his late 40's to early 50's and was a coattail blazer like the blue blazers Shadow saw, but it was darker red.

_'There's the boss man.'_ Shadow thought.

_"Welcome, Elite Duelists."_ The bald man greeted. _"I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the Headmaster of this school. You all used your skills to open the narrow admission gates."_ Shadow noticed that Jaden was half asleep on this, which he chuckled at before turning his attention back to the Chancellor speaking. _"Please have fun studying in hopes of becoming the future King of Games. Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. I hope you find them quite comfortable; depending on how you ranked of course."_ He finished with a slight chuckle.

After the speech, Shadow, Shade and the other student's walked out of the school to get to their room assignments. Shadow was checking on his Duel Pilot that showed all the personal info that's related to school and whatnot.

"Well, looks like We will be staying at Ra Yellow." Shadow Mentioned to Shade.

"That would make us neighbors then." Shadow turned to see Bastion walking up to him.

"Hey Bastion, it looks like we _will_ be neighbors." Shadow greeted. "So? Ready to head over there then?"

"I suppose." Bastion answered. The two were walking until they saw Jaden and Syrus sitting on a stone decoration of sorts.

"Hey Bastion, you in red too?" Jaden asked.

"Let's see… yellow buttons, yellow sleeves, nope. I don't think so." Bastion answered.

"Same here. We're in the Ra Yellow dorm." Shadow added.

"Oh… So that's how it works…" Jaden realized looking at his red blazer.

"Are you saying you just figured that out?" Shadow asked incredulously.

"So what? You ever think that maybe I was color blind?" Jaden glared.

"Actually, no we didn't." Bastion said.

"_Are_ you color blind?" Syrus asked.

"Nah, but I could've been!" Jaden snickered. "Maybe we'll see you and Shadow around the dorms!" Jaden said to Bastion.

"I doubt that…" Bastion said as he pointed his thumb towards the other side of the island. "_Your _dorms are over there."

"Yup, so see you later." Shadow waved as he, Shade, and Bastion walked left Jaden and Syrus to themselves.

_**"How dose no-one notice me unless someone makes it known I'm around"**_ Shade Complained.

It didn't take long for Bastion and Shadow to find their dorm seeing as it was really… yellow. It can't be explained much clearer than that. Bastion and Shadow soon found their rooms which were actually next door. After unlocking his room with the key he got as soon as they got to the island, Shadow was met by a nice room whose walls are white with a full sized bed, a dresser, a closet, a good–sized desk with a computer and lamp, and a window with a nice view. It even had a small fridge and stove for cooking. His luggage was all there thanks to staff who dealt with it.

City Slicker appeared in spirit form again. _"Hey, this place ain't so bad."_ He commented. _"Just like home."_

_"I have to say, this room is not for a prince such as myself!"_ a voice exclaimed. Shadow wanted to face palm when he saw yet another spirit appear. It was yet another Hero from his deck, one that gets irritating from time to time. This one was in a blood red body suit, with pieces of white and silver armor on his forearms, feet and legs. This was Shadow Hero: Vampire Prince.

"Maxwell …"

_"There also isn't a butler around to help me! My word I don't think I can live in this sort of place again."_ Suddenly City Slicker smacked him on the back of the head.

_"Well, no one asked you, Sparkles!"_ he shouted. _"Stop acting all high and mighty again!"_

"And besides, you liked _my_ room." Shadow said to Maxwell.

_"That one was nicely furnished,"_ Maxwell interrupted. _"Same goes for the house. But this…this place is a dump! Where are our couches? Where is the TV?"_ Edward continued to rant on and on, with Shadow ignoring him.

"Man, I better make it feel like home otherwise, I'll go nuts just hearing Max rant on." Shadow groaned. So with that, he set to work, placing various posters of different things all over the room and hanging all of his clothes including extra blazers and pants in case, the one he's wearing got dirty. He did all of that in a few minutes. "Now, does this room suit you?" Shadow asked Maxwell again.

_"Better,"_ Maxwell commented. When he saw Shadow sigh, the Shadow Hero decided to stop. _"It is suitable for now. I shall see you again later Kurogasa."_ After that the spirit went back to rest within his card. City Slicker, who was still out, scoffed.

_"Che, I don't see how you can handle that one. He gets so annoying."_ Slick muttered.

"Just do something he likes and he'll stop bothering you," Shadow shrugged. When he heard knocking on the door. "I'll see you later Slick." The spirit nodded and disappeared. Opening the door, Shadow saw Bastion waiting for him.

"All settled in, I take it?" Bastion asked.

"Yep." Shadow answered. "So, Bastion, what's up next on our list after settling in?"

"There is the Welcome Dinner for us. And that's not going to be a while until tonight."

"Sweet. That means a lot of free time for me to check out the whole school. Lots of exploring to do, people to meet, and hopefully duel. Lets go girl" He said as he turned to Shade.

_**"Yes sir"**_ Shade answered

"Happy hunting then." Bastion grinned.

So for the rest of the morning heading, Shadow and Shade explored the campus, and he's got to admit, it was pretty impressive. He's been also meeting other people too. Some were friendly, others not so much. He's heard of stuff about lower classmen about discriminated by the upperclassmen, especially when it comes to the Obelisk Blue students. In fact he's heard from Bastion while on the way to Academy Island, about the dorms and how they work.

He's been told that the Obelisk Blue dorm is mostly made up of students who have connections and are rich. Luxurious interior design, high–quality rooming, and finer food are offered as well. As for the Ra Yellow dorm, the one Shadow was in, were the ones with the second best qualities. Which would explain why his dorm room was like a regular bedroom you would find in any house. Then there's the Slifer Red dorm, where students are categorised as being the weakest duelists among the dorms, and the room quality is only as good as having an apartment complex. They have very weak decks and poor strategies which cause them to lose most of the time. In some cases students from this dorm have never won a duel at all and drop out. He was a little disgusted by this social discrimination the school has, but he's gonna have to bear with it during his three years here, and during those years, he'll prove to those who are snobs and elitists that social status isn't everything.

Putting that aside right now, Shadow continued to explore around the campus. He needed to know the area well, otherwise he'll always get lost.

"Wow. This place never ceases to amaze me." Shadow said impressed by the inside of the Academy. He didn't notice three girls walking in the opposite direction. One of them is Alexis, a red head, and the third girl having black hair. He kept on walking until he bumped into Alexis, making the latter fall on her butt.

"OW!" Alexis cried.

"Huh?" Shadow said before looking down at who he bumped into. It was a girl around his age maybe a year younger and has long sandy blonde hair and she was on Obelisk Blue. "Oh, I'm sorry! Didn't see you there!" He quickly apologised.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?!" The red headed girl snapped.

"Yeah, watch where you're going!" The black hair girl added.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. It was an accident." Shadow apologised raising his hands in defense and then offered his hand to Alexis. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Alexis said looking up at him. At that point, Shadow blushed seeing her face. To him, she's the cutest girl he's ever seen. As Shadow helped her up to her feet, he attempted to talk to her, but can't. He opened his mouth, only to close it again when he couldn't seem to find the right words to say. This happened several more times as he really tried to speak to her. The girl in the black hair and Alexis giggled at his actions causing him to stop. _'I can talk to pretty girls back home, yet I can't seem to ask _this _girl for her name!'_ he cursed himself mentally.

"Do you want something?" the red head asked seeing as Shadow was just staring at Alexis.

"Jasmine don't be mean now," Alexis told her friend. The blonde then turned to Shadow who still seemed to be struggling to find the words he wanted to say. She gave him a smile and decided it was time to go see the other new freshmen in her dorm. "See you later new guy. Mindy, Jasmine let's go."

As they passed him, Shadow found his voice. "Hold up!" he called after them. The three girls turned around and looked at him curiously. "I'm Shadow Nova, who are you three?"

"I'm Alexis Rhodes. Thats Jasmine and Mindy"

"I see." Shadow pondered then "Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy huh? Nice names. Uh… do think you three could show me around the island? I'm new here and I don't want to get lost." The girl with black hair, Mindy, giggled while Jasmine rolled her eyes. Alexis on the other hand just smiled.

"Maybe next time, Shadow. We have to go see our new classmates in Obelisk Blue. See you around." The trio then left Shadow alone again and caused him to look after her.

"Alexis huh? A pretty name for a pretty girl I guess." He said to himself, but then sighed. "Man, that was embarrassing."

_"You're slipping up Shadow."_ A new voice teased. A spirit appeared next to him. He was similar to Slick, but he was armor that was blue, plus sections of red This was Shadow Hero: Match Maker "M-Match! You saw that!?" Shadow exclaimed.

_"Of course I did. I have to say I'm a bit ashamed of you. What happened to all the hard work we had training you to speak to girls?"_

"Um… she was so pretty that I forgot all about it?" The blue Hero shook his head.

_"I think we need to redo you training on that."_

"What?! Oh come on!"

_"He's right you know."_ A new voice said. This time a Man in a Jet black Robotic suit appeared. This was Shadow Hero: Dark Master.

"Not you too, Darth!" Shadow whined.

_"Hehehe, you looked stupid Shadow!"_ Darth laughed. Just like Maxwell, Darth was a little annoying but that is due to the fact that he had the mentality of a deranged lunatic and to an extent he can tolerate it. _"You kept opening and closing your mouth like a fish!"_

"Yes Darth, I know I looked stupid," Shadow grumbled. He along with the two heros then decided to explore the school.

_"This place is not that bad don't know why Max was complaining! Are we going to be living here now Shadow?"_

"Yes Darth, this is where we are going to live."

_"Good!"_

_"Although,"_ Match spoke and Shadow could hear the complaint coming, _"we could use more girls around here."_

"You and your girls Match." As they explored he took note of the places he went through, that way he'd be sure to remember it. He continued walking around until he noticed something up ahead. He saw a large duel arena and in there, he saw Jaden and Syrus and three male Obelisk Blue students. By the looks of it, the male Obelisks were smack talking to Jaden and Syrus. "That can't be good…" Shadow said grimacing his face.

_"Better haul them out of there."_ Match said.

"You don't have to tell _me_ twice." Shadow said as Match and Darth disappeared. He walked inside the arena, and the Obelisk Blue student wearing glasses saw him.

"Hey, it's that kid with those Shadow Hero cards." The boy with the glasses said recognizing Shadow. "Hey Chazz, it's that kid with those Shadow Hero cards who did that burn to win thing on that proctor!"

"Huh?" Jaden and Syrus asked simultaneously as they turned around and saw Shadow coming their way.

"Is it now?" the black haired kid, presumably named Chazz smirked as he turned to see Shadow. "Well, it looks like he's a Ra Reject. Better than the Slifer Slackers anyway."

"Obelisk Blue doesn't sound much promising either if people like you three are in it." Shadow scoffed. "You three are just a bunch of rich snobs that have more talking skill than dueling."

_**"You got that right sir"**_ Shade growled

"Easy Shade" Shadow calmed

"What did you say?!" a bulkier Obelisk Blue student growled as Chazz looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

"Ouch!" Jaden laughed. Not even a scathing glare from Chazz seemed to be able to crush his amusement.

"Do you even know who you're talking to?" the glasses kid frowned. "That's Chazz Princeton! He made the top of the class at duelist prep school! People say he's got what it takes to become the next King of Games!"

"Impossible…" Jaden scoffed crossing his arms with a look of indifference on his face.

"What?" Chazz growled at Jaden.

"I said impossible because that's gonna be me!" Jaden grinned pointing his thumb at himself.

"And you're a first year, right Chazz?" Shadow asked.

"The best there is!"

"Then, you're the same as all of us." Shadow shrugged. "I just don't have the money or many connections to have Obelisk Blue handed to me on a silver platter. And if you're the impression of the next King of Games, then why would anyone want the title?"

"You'd better watch your mouth, Ra Reject!" the bulkier Obelisk threatened.

"Or what?" the SH (Shadow Heroes) duelist asked, "Just because you Obelisks got higher status now, doesn't mean you all could be equal or actually be beneath me or anyone else in an actual duel."

"Then let's prove it right now." Chazz challenged. "One of my guys against you. I still want to show that Slifer Slacker that I'm the best."

"What's going on here?" A voice called. They all turned to see another Obelisk walking towards them. It was Alexis Rhodes.

"Who's that?" Syrus wondered.

"Uh… hey Alexis." Shadow greeted.

"You know this Ra Reject Alexis?" Chazz asked in surprise.

"Chazz, you need to stop insulting the other houses, your making our house look bad."

Chazz scoffed before turning back to Shadow. "What do you say Reject? Up for a duel against one of my men?"

"Alright, fine. We can kill some time before the Welcome Dinners start. It's not gonna be 'till tonight and I'll let your flunkies do the work." Shadow waved off. "Makes no difference to me…"

"Are you sure?" Alexis asked.

"It's okay Alexis, I can take them on." Shadow assured her. "So who's game?"

"Me!" the bulkier Obelisk shouted. "The name's Raizou! And I can't wait to show you up for the weaker duelist you are. I'll beat you so bad; they'll demote you to Slifer."

"At least at the end of the day, I'm not you." the Shadow Hero duelist stated, "A duelist who really doesn't need to be in high graces." The bulkier Obelisk and Shadow got on the duel arena stage. Shadow got a deck and puts his Fist into the air. "Shade!" Shadow said as Shades Tail Transformed into his duel disk and he inserted the deck inside the deck slot as the veins on the disk lit up. Both players then drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Raizou:** 4000

**Shadow:** 4000

"This is going to be sweet." the glasses wearing Obelisk student snickered.

"That Ra Reject won't know what hit him." Chazz chuckled.

"Seniority goes first!" Raizou stated. "Draw!" The Obelisk thug studied his hand before making a decision. "First off I summon Marauding Captain in ATK mode!" A middle aged man with blond hair appeared on the field. He had a sword in each hand and was wearing steal knight armor on his body. Behind him was a billowing red cape (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 400) "Next his ability activates. When he is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I choose to summon a second Marauding Captain!" A carbon copy of the knight appeared next to the first one. "Lastly I put a card face down and end my turn. Let's see you get through that Reject!"

"That's not good. He's got Shadow in an ATK lockdown." Alexis stated.

"What's that?" Syrus asked.

"Marauding Captain's ability is that Shadow cannot target Raizou's Warrior monsters for attacks, except him. But he's got both of the same Monsters on the field. He can't attack neither one."

"It's my turn! Draw!" Shadow declared drawing his sixth card. _'Okay, he's got me in an attack lock down, so I can't do much.'_ Shadow thought.

_"Shadow! Get me on the field!"_ a new voice cried out from it's card.

Shadow looked at it and then smirked. 'And of course there's you. Alright then, I'll get you on the field.'

_"Yes!"_

"Alright, for my first move, I'll summon Ghost Rider: Snowholt in ATK mode!" Kurogasa declared. A man ridding a Jet black Stallion and dressed like a cowboy came out of nowhere as the air around the field got colder (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200).

"Hey thats not a Shadow Hero!" Raizou stated

"No shit sherlock what was your first clue. I have two decks My Shadow Heros and My ghost riders" Shadow explained "I also get to add a powerful Field spell to my hand now Snowy, attack the idiot in the blue."

"You can't do that! The effect of my Marauding Captains should stop you from attacking my monsters!"

"Who said I was aiming for _them_? I told him to attack _you_! You see Snowholt can attack you directly. Do it!"

_"Got it Shadow!"_ the Rider responded. Grabbing the two guns by his sides Snowholt started to blast away.

**Raizou:** 3200

**Shadow:** 4000

"Yeah! Shadow gets first blood!" Jaden cheered.

"Way to play!" Syrus cheered.

_'Wow. He somehow managed to find a way to bypass Raizou's Marauding Captain's abilities.'_ Alexis thought. _'And it's just with that one monster.'_

"I place three cards facedown and end my turn." Shadow said as three reversed cards appeared on the field.

Raizou growled before drawing. "Lucky shot! Next time, you won't be so lucky! I activate my Trap Card, DNA Surgery!" The face down card flipped up and showed a picture of a man in a surgeon's clothes along with two other people. "With this on the field I get change all face up Monster's Type into whatever I want. I choose Warrior."

"What's the point in _that_? My Ghost Rider is a Warrior already." Shadow said confused.

"IT IS?" Everyone yelled shocked

"Shade tell 'em why they are warriors and not zombies" Shadow said as he rolled his eyes

_**"Yes sir, The Ghost riders are spirits yes however since the devil gave them a job trying to catch a herd of devil cow's they are treated like normal human beings" **_Shade Monologged.

"oh well, you should wait and watch Reject; you'll see what I mean. Next I summon Summoner Monk in ATK mode!" A priest in dark robes appeared with surrounding him. Suddenly armor appeared on the monster, symbolizing its change from spellcaster to Warrior type. (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1600). "Now its effect activates and I change him into DEF position." The monk then sat down into lotus position, going into defense mode. "Next I activate A Forces! For every Spellcaster or Warrior on the field, my Warrior types get an extra 200 ATK point boost each. From what I see, there are four warrior types on the field. So that is an 800 point boost to each of my Monsters."

Marauding Captain: (4/ATK: 1200–2000/DEF: 400) X2

Summoner monk: (4/ATK: 800–1600/DEF: 1600)

"And that's enough for the Marauding Captain's to take out Snowholt!" Syrus realized.

"Go Marauding Captain destroy his Ghost Rider!" One of the warriors lifted up its sword and slashed Snowholt across the chest, or rater tried to insted the horse reared up and kicked the Marauding Captain back to it's owners side of the field.

**Raizou:** 3200

**Shadow:** 3600

"Now my other Captain Attacks!" The second captain charged forward and the same thing happened.

"AGH!"

**Raizou:** 3200

**Shadow:** 1600

"I activate Damage Condenser!" Kurogasa said revealing one of his traps. "With this Trap, I can Special Summon 1 monster from my Deck with ATK equal to or less than the total Battle Damage you took this turn. So since I took 2400 points, I can summon a Monster with 2400 ATK or less, and I'll choose Ghost Rider: Big John!" A mine appeared behind Shadow and out of it came a giant man who looked like he was in that mine for years and yet was still fully human (7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2300)

"And who's _that_?" Raizou scoffed.

_"I am Big John and I am your worst nightmare little man"_

"Wow, you have a Duel Spirit too Shadow!" Jaden shouted from the sideline.

"Are you sure Jay?" Syrus asked slowly. Just like the proctor, Syrus thought Shadow was just throwing his voice and using ventriloquism to speak for the Riders and Heros.

"Yeah, I mean, are you sure it's not just ventriloquism?" Alexis asked. She also believed Shadow was just throwing his voice in as well.

"I'm sure you two." Then Jaden looked at the Rider. "Although I have to ask, why is he so battered up?" Shadow smirked. He knew Big J got mad when people ask him that Question

_"It's none of your Bees wax small fry!"_ John shouted at Jaden.

"Wow! You're right! It _is_ a Duel Spirit!" Syrus realized.

"Shadow's not using ventriloquism after all." Alexis added.

"Also, I don't have _a_ Duel spirit. I have Duel Spirit_s_." Shadow corrected and then turned to Raizou. "Are you done?"

"I place a facedown end my turn."

"Good, I draw!" After looking at his cards, Shadow nodded to himself. "Alright, I play Card of Sanctity! Letting us both draw 'til we six cards in our hand." Both drew until they had six. "Now I'll play the Spell, Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your A. Forces!" A heavy wind blew destroying the card and Raizou's monster's stats dropped.

Marauding Captain: (4/ATK: 2000–1200/DEF: 400) X2

Summoner monk: (4/ATK: 1600–800/DEF: 1600)

"Next I play the Spell, Double Summon allowing me to summon twice this turn! So now I summon Ghost Rider: Hawkeye and Ghost prey: Devil cows in ATK mode!"

Another Jet black horse appeared along with a rider that was so transparent if you looked hard enough you could see his heart still beating (4/ATK: 1750/DEF: 1900).

Then a herd of cows came onto the field they were Jet black, Their brands were still on fire and their hoofs were made of steel Their horns were black and shinny and their hot breath he could feel (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200).

**Raizou:** 2200

**Shadow:** 1600

"Hey how come my point's went down?" Raizou asked

"The cows on the field take 1000 off you when they are summoned and when they are destroyed by monsters"

"What how come?" Raizou questioned

_**"They are devil cows you idiot and since shadow has ghost riders on the field he can't loose life points to the devil cows"**_ Shade Snapped

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Shadow finished.

"My draw!" Raizou declared drawing his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw cards." Raizou drew two. "Next, I'll sacrifice my Summoner Monk in order to summon The Fiend Megacyber in ATK mode!" The monk disappeared only to be replaced by a yellow armored spiky warrior with robes that goes down its waist. (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1200). "Then I Tribute my two Marauding Captain. " Raizou said as he discarded two cards from his hand.

"Why did he do that?" Syrus wondered.

"He probably has a powerful Monster in his hand." Alexis stated.

"Now I play Double Summon letting me summon once more, and I'll summon Sword Hunter due to Sacrificing the two Marauding Captains. In a show of light and a gladiator, that had several swords on its back appeared (7/ATK: 2450/DEF: 1700).

"Now to finish you off! I play the Spell, Lightning Vortex!"

"Oh no!" Jaden cried.

"That'll leave Shadow defenseless!" Syrus added.

"You should know what this card does by now, but I'll tell you anyway. I discard one card from my hand, and it'll destroy every one of your Monsters on your side of the Field!" A vortex of lightning appeared and sucked the Ghost Riders in destroying them in no time.

"That kid's done." Chazz said smugly.

"No way can he get out of this one." The kid with the glasses said.

"Now Fiend Megacyber, Sword Hunter finish this Ra Reject off!" Raizou ordered. The two monsters went straight for Shadow, ready to strike at him at a moment's notice.

"Shadow!" Jaden and Syrus cried.

"Sorry, but this duel is still going on! Activate facedowns! Nutrient Z and Emergency Provisions!" Kurogasa countered revealing the facedowns.

"NO!" Chazz and his groupies yelled.

"That's right!" Shadow smirked. "I knew you high and mighty Obelisks like yourselves like to do overkills, so I set these cards just in case. "First Nutrient Z gives me 4000 points if I'm about to take 2000 or more points in Damage." A small vile appeared in Kurogasa's hand and he drank the contents before throwing it away.

**Raizou:** 2200

**Shadow:** 4600

"And finally, Emergency Provisions allow me to destroy any of my Spell or Traps that I have on the field, and for every one destroyed, I gain 1000 Life Points. I choose to destroy my face down Spell Calling!" The said card then shattered.

**Raizou:** 2200

**Shadow:** 5600

As soon as that resolved, Sword Hunter and Fiend Megacyber hit Shadow making the latter slide back a couple feet.

**Raizou:** 2200

**Shadow:** 950

"Thanks to spell calling I get two place two spell cards from my deck face down" Shadow Smirked

"Damn! I thought Raizou had him!" The Obelisk with the glasses growled.

"Doesn't matter, Torimaki. When Raizou's turn comes up, he's finished." Chazz assured him, who is also miffed with that last move.

"Whew… that was close." Jaden sighed in relief.

"Yeah, _too_ close." Syrus added.

"Now he just needs to draw something good to win this duel." Alexis added.

"Damn you! Next turn, you're done Ra Reject!" Raizou growled.

"There's not gonna be a next turn." Shadow said.

"Why's that?"

"Because…" Shadow said as he drew his next card. "I'm calling… The Last Turn"

"What?!" Raizou gasped taken off guard by the declaration. Chazz and the Obelisk boy with the glasses cringed at this.

"I play Card of Demise drawing until I have five cards, but discarding my Hand after my 5th Standby Phase." Shadow said as he drew his five cards. "Next I summon Ghost Rider: Genral Custer in ATK mode!" (4/ATK:0/DEF:0).

"Next I activate the Field spell Little Bighorn This powers up Custer By 1000 for every Ghost Rider In the graveyard an I count 3 (4/ATK:0-3000/DEF:0)

"Now I play this!" He then flipped the card over to show. "Look familiar? It's Lightning Vortex!" Shadow said.

"NO!" The Obelisk boys gasped in shock.

"He won!" Alexis gasped.

"That's right Alexis, I win. I just gotta discard this card from my hand." Shadow said as he did so. A lightning vortex appeared and sucked up Fiend Megacyber and Sword Hunter, destroying them into pixels.

"No way! I lost to a Ra Reject?!" Raizou growled.

"Yep. Custer, finish him off with Losers Victory!" Shadow commanded.

**Raizou:** 0

**Shadow**: 950

The holograms disappeared and the duel disks deactivated. "Hmph. All bark and no bite." Shadow scoffed to himself as Jaden and Syrus ran over to him and the former turned to them.

"Way to play, Shadow!" Syrus praised.

"Yeah, what he said!" Jaden grinned.

"Thanks." Shadow grinned back and then turned to the three Obelisks with Raizou slowly getting up on his feet. Those three were just mad.

"Don't think that this is over Ra Reject!" Chazz growled. "You're gonna regret messing with us Obelisks."

"Well, I'm always up for a challenge Chuzz– I mean Chazz." Shadow smirked. Jaden and Syrus laughed as Chazz and his flunkies stomped out of the arena.

"You know all of us Obelisks aren't that bad," Alexis said as she strode up toward the trio. Kurogasa turned around and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know about that. One of your friends seems a bit ditzy, while the other seems to glare at me nonstop. So far you've been the only one nice to me," Shadow replied with a smirk appearing on his lips.

"Mindy and Jasmine will come around," Alexis smiled at them. "Now you guys should get going. It's almost time for the Welcoming Feasts."

"Whoa we get feasts!?" Jaden asked with excitement. "Sy, let's go! See you later Shadow! You too Alexis!" The brunette ran out of the arena, dragging his blue haired friend behind him. This left Shadow who put his hands into his pocket and went towards the opposite the one Alexis was going. He then turned around and called out to her.

"Alexis!" The blond girl looked over her shoulder at the boy. "So when will I get my tour of the island with you?"

"Maybe tomorrow… if you're lucky." Alexis then left, leaving the smiling boy to himself. Looking around to make sure nobody would see him; Shadow pumped his fist into the air and jumped for joy.

"Alright, I still got it."

_"You still could have made it better,"_ Match laughed as he appeared next to the boy. _"And also, save your victory dance for when you're alone."_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Shadow waved off. "Well, I get going. The feast is about to begin!" And with that, he ran off to his dorm.

Later that evening, all the welcoming dinners were starting. The Obelisk Blue dorms dinner was basically a fancy party, with gourmet food, punch bowls and classical music played by musicians in the background. As for the Slifer Red dorm, all they had was bowl of rice, sardines, some sauces, and a pair of chopsticks. In the Ra yellow dorm, it was better than Slifer Red, but it wasn't as luxurious as the Obelisks, but they still had great food you'd find at restaurants. Not to mention the Headmaster of Ra Yellow, who he introduced himself as Professor Sartyr, was the one that cooked it. Shadow and Bastion were sitting next to each other enjoying the feast they were having. As they were talking, Shadow told Bastion about the duel he had against Raizou before the Welcome Dinner.

"My word, you defeated an Obelisk Blue?!" Bastion asked rather shocked.

"It really was no big deal." Shadow shrugged as he cut a piece of steak and ate it. "Obelisks like Chazz, Torimaki, and Raizou are all bark and no bite. And this color business don't mean anything either. It's all because Kaiba wanted people to believe his old Obelisk was the best and that Yugi's Slifer, and Marik's Ra sucked. That's being biased there, don't you think?"

"Good point." Bastion agreed. "Still, you defeated an Obelisk Blue student. That's quite the feat you just did."

"Yeah, and I feel good just doing that. This Welcome Dinner here is just an added bonus." Shadow grinned as he continued to eat.

After the Welcome Dinner, Shadow was in his dorm room lying down on the bed resting with Shade recharging. "Aw man… I'm stuffed. Today turned out to be the best day and it's not even the first day of school yet." Shadow sighed all happy patting his stomach.

_"Yep! And tomorrow is going to be even better!"_ Big John, stated as he appeared in the room.

"We'll see about that Big J."

_But you really need to get your as your friend jaden says _"Get your Game on"_ my friend" _Custer mentioned referring to his crush on Alexis

"Shut up! It was just nerves okay?"

_"You only got your confidence back when you dueled that Obelisk loser,"_ Match stated. _"I mean your love life isn't going to go anywhere if you keep doing that around pretty girls."_

"Can we not talk about my love life right now? Besides I just met the girl," Shadow grumbled. Behind him Big J and Match laughed._"Fine,"_ Big John replied. _"Although you may need to get some rest. We have a big day of making friends tomorrow!"_

"Yeah, better get ready for bed." And he was about to go too until…

_**"Perimeter alert two individuals slifer red" **_Shade whispered to Shadow

"Huh?" Shadow asked as he looked to the window and saw Jaden and Syrus running towards the Obelisk arena they were at earlier today. "What the? What's Jaden and Syrus doing going to the arena this late? It's past curfew."

_"Better reel them out of there again."_ Match sighed.

"No kidding… Shade stay here I don't think I'll be Dueling" Shadow sighed as the Riders and Heros disappeared. He then decided to follow them so he could figure out what they're up to. He was about halfway there until…

"You shouldn't be out here this late." A voice called out, making Shadow jump before turning around.

"Oh, hey Alexis. What are you doing here?" He said, trying to shake off the shock.

"I should ask you the same thing." She said.

"Hey, I was trying to get Jaden and Syrus to come back from the arena, when you caught me." Shadow reasoned.

"Why would Jaden sneak out around here?" She wondered.

"That's what _I'm_ trying to find out."

"Alright, we'll find out together. Let's go." Alexis said as she and Shadow ran to get to Jaden and Syrus.

Inside the Arena, Jaden and Syrus made it inside to find Chazz on one side waiting with his two friends.

"Well well well… you showed up after all, Slacker." Chazz greeted.

"Of course. After that challenge you sent to my DP, no way was I gonna miss this!" He told him as he climbed onto the dueling platform. Syrus took to the sidelines as the two duelists went to their respective ends of the platform.

"Now, we see whether you beating Dr. Crowler was a fluke, or a fact." Chazz said.

"Yeah." Jaden replied. "And we're gonna find out something else too; like which one of us is gonna be the next King of Games."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Just be sure to get your best card ready to hand over after you lose."

"You too, Chazz. Now get your game on!" Both of their duel disks turned on and they each drew their starting hands.

"DUEL!"

**Jaden:** 4000

**Chazz:** 4000

"The best go first!" Chazz said drawing his sixth card. "I summon Chthonian Soldier in ATK mode!" A man in dark armor, wielding a large blade appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400). "I'll then place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Now it's my go!" Jaden drew his card and looked over his hand, "Ok, first off, I'll summon my Elemental Hero Sparkman in ATK Mode!" A strange looking human dressed in a yellow and blue garb with a curved blue helmet appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "Alright, Sparkman. Now attack Chthonian Soldier with Static Shockwave!" Jaden ordered. The Sparkman jumped into the air with his arm charged with electrical sparks before sending out an electric shockwave from his hand and hit the dark armored monster dead on, destroying it completely in an explosion.

**Chazz:** 3600

**Jaden:** 4000

Chazz growled at first, but smirked as he saw Chthonian's curved blade fly straight at Jaden, hitting him in the stomach. In pain, Jaden fell to one knee, holding his gut.

"Whenever Chthonian Soldier is destroyed, you take the same amount of Damage to your Life Points as I did!"

**Chazz:** 3600

**Jaden:** 3600

"Okay, that was just a minor setback." Jaden grunted getting back up. "I'll place a facedown and call it a turn." Jaden said placing a reverse card on the field.

"Oh man, Jaden walked right into that one." Syrus said in a nervous tone when he heard someone chuckle. He turned to see Shadow and Alexis walk into the stadium.

"You worry too much Sy." Shadow said.

"Shadow? Alexis?" Syrus said when they walked up to him.

"I thought we'd find you here." Alexis said with her arms crossed. "Looks like Jaden is holding his own against Chazz."

"He is, but Chazz's facedown worries me." Shadow said while he stared at Chazz's lone facedown. "He's waiting for something."

"Minor?" Chazz scoffed and started his turn. "After this turn, you're gonna have a major setback! I play the Trap Card Call of the Haunted in order to bring back Chthonian Soldier!" The dark knight reappeared on the field with a large battle cry. "Next I play my Reborn Zombie in DEF mode!" A decaying zombie appeared on the field with tattered clothing. (4) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1600).

"Alright! Time to go bigger!" Jaden drew his next card and smiled. "And I have just the card to do it!"

"Bring it on slacker!"

"It _is_ brought! I activate Polymerization, fusing Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand in order to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Everyone watched as Avian and Burstinatrix jumped into the fusion portal as Jaden's ace monster appeared on the field (6) (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200). "See? Told ya I'd go bigger."

"You know, I was hoping you'd do that." Chazz smirked.

"Why's that?"

"Because that card I put facedown was a Trap that you set off!" Chazz said as his facedown card flipped up. "I play the trap card Chthonian Polymer!"

"What does it do?" Jaden asked.

"I sacrifice my Reborn Zombie in order to take control of your Wingman!" Reborn Zombie was engulfed by dark flames as it surrounded Flame Wingman, pulling him over to Chazz's field, giving him a darker look.

"Not my Wingman." Jaden groaned while he was staring down his best monster.

"That's not good!" Syrus worried.

"Yeah, now Jaden's gonna have to go up against Flame Wingman's super power when he attacks." Shadow grimaced.

"You know Slacker, you're so predictable. You wouldn't shut up about that Wingman during the exams so I knew you were going to summon him sooner or later."

"Well, since that Wingman was a Special Summon, I can summon another monster during my turn." Jaden looked at his hand and thought, _'Problem is, none of my monsters even come close to Flame Wingman's ATK points.'_

_'Go ahead Slacker, play a monster.'_ Chazz thought. _'I haven't forgotten about your Monster's ability.'_

Jaden made his decision. "Alright, I play Elemental Hero Clayman in DEF Mode and switch Sparkman to DEF." A large bulky warrior made of clay appeared on the field while Sparkman kneeled down (4) (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000). "There, all done."

"_That's_ your move?" Chazz drew his next card and smirked. "I'll show you what a _real_ move is! I play the Spell Card, Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your facedown!" A green typhoon destroyed Jaden's facedown card which revealed itself to be Mirror Force.

"Not my Mirror Force too." Jaden whined.

"Now Flame Wingman, attack his Clayman with Skydive Scorcher!" Flame Wingman enveloped himself in orange flames and rammed himself into Clayman, destroying him with little effort. "Let's not forget his ability, since he destroyed a Monster, you take damage equal to the destroyed Monster's ATK points!"

Flame Wingman appeared in front of Jaden and used his dragon arm to send a fire stream at Jaden who fell to his knees.

**Chazz:** 3600

**Jaden:** 2400

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." Chazz said while a reverse card appeared on the field. Chazz then heard some muffled sounds coming from Jaden. Chazz smirk grew wider. "Aw, what's wrong? You gonna cry?" Chazz got his answer when the 'crying' turned into full blown laughter which threw everyone threw a loop including Chazz. Jaden stood up with a huge grin on his face.

"This is awesome!"

"What?!" Chazz stared at Jaden thinking that the Slacker had just gone insane.

"This is exactly what I came for." Jaden rubbed his nose. "I mean come on; the trash talking, the action, it's incredible!"

"You're insane." Chazz said flatly.

"That's a compliment to me." Jaden drew his next card. "I switch Sparkman into ATK Mode and place one card facedown and end my turn." One reverse card appeared on the field while Sparkman stood upright.

"You truly are insane Slacker." Chazz drew his next card. "I summon another Chthonian Solider in ATK Mode!" Another shadow knight appeared with its curved blade ready. "Now Flame Wingman, attack his Sparkman now!"

"Not so fast there Chazz, I have a Trap!" Jaden revealed his face down which made Chazz's eyes widen.

"M–Mirror Gate!"

"Aw yeah!" Syrus cheered.

"Jaden's still in this!" Alexis smiled.

"Sure is. Mirror Gate's ability allows Jaden to switch one of his Elemental Heroes with the attacking Monster. In this case, Flame Wingman and Sparkman!" Shadow grinned.

"That's right! Now Sparkman and Wingman switch sides!" Sparkman and Flame Wingman switched duel fields as they clashed in the middle with Wingman overpowering Sparkman, causing a huge explosion.

"NOO!" Chazz screamed as his plan fell apart.

**Chazz:** 3100

**Jaden:** 2400

"And just like you said a while ago, let's not forget about my Wingman's ability! You take damage equal to Sparkman's ATK points!" Jaden told Chazz as the residual electricity from Sparkman attacked Chazz, causing him to scream again.

**Chazz:** 1500

**Jaden:** 2400

"Yeah! He's in the lead!" Syrus cheered even more.

"He just might win this." Shadow added.

"Pure luck!" Chazz started his turn and revealed his facedown. "I play the trap card Chthonian Blast; now since you destroyed one of my Monsters, I can destroy one of your Monsters, and you take Damage equal to half of the destroyed Monster's ATK points!" Dark mist swirled around Flame Wingman and swallowed him whole.

Chazz: 1500

Jaden: 1350

"Now Chthonian Solider, attack his life points directly! Windstorm Slash!" The shadow knight slashed Jaden, making him step back.

**Chazz**: 1500

**Jaden:** 150

"Oh man… now he's back in the gutter…" Syrus groaned.

"Now I sacrifice my Chthonian Solider and summon Mefist the Infernal General!" Chthonian Solider disappeared in a black mist as a heavily armored knight with a giant axe appeared on the field on a black horse (5) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1700).

"Not bad…"

"Not bad?" Chazz smirked. "You're something else ya know that Slacker, acting all confident. But your monsters won't save you now!"

_'I know he's wrong… because I know that my monsters and I have a bond.'_ He drew his next card and smiled slightly. _'Speaking of…'_

Just then… the spirit of Custer showed up.

"What's wrong?" Shadow asked quietly.

_"We got company."_ Custer said before disappearing.

Alexis turned her head to the entrance of the arena, a nervous look on her face. Alexis's eyes went wide and she snapped her head back to the two dueling students, "Guys! It's Campus Security! If we get caught here, we're all gonna get seriously busted!"

"What?!" Syrus yelped.

Jaden looked at her, "What? Why? I mean, we're all students here, so why should we worry?" he asked her.

Alexis pulled out her PDA, "The Rules of Duel Academy say that there is no off–hour dueling in _any_ arena! Chazz _knows_ that!" She looked at the other the boy in question whose face was red. "But lemme guess…he didn't tell you?"

"Must be a backup plan of some sort. In case he lost, he would've been happy with Campus Security catching him." Shadow figured.

"C'mon Chazz, let's go!" Torimaki said.

"Fine…" Chazz snorted then turned away.

"Hey wait a minute, this duel isn't over!" Jaden protested.

Chazz hopped off the platform and started walking away with Torimaki and Raizou, "Yeah it is, Slacker. I saw what I needed to see. You're a sorry duelist and you beating Crowler was a fluke…"

"But…"

"Jay! C'mon!" Syrus urged.

"Yeah man, we gotta bail." Shadow added.

"I'm not moving from this spot until I finish my turn!" Jaden defied staying put.

"We don't have time for this!" Shadow said as he grabbed Jaden and carried under his arm as Alexis lead them out of the arena.

After some time, Alexis and the others made it outside of the main building. She looked to see Jaden who was being let down by Shadow with Syrus right behind them.

"You sure are stubborn aren't you?" She asked Jaden.

"Only about my dueling." Jaden scowled.

"Anyway, thanks for showing us the back way out, Alexis." Shadow sighed.

"No problem. I'm just sorry that you didn't get to finish your duel with Chazz, Jaden."

"It's ok. I just picture on how it would've ended anyway…"

Alexis raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? From _my_ point of view, it could have gone either way."

"Pfft, no way! Not after I drew _this_." Jaden lifted up the card he had drawn before they bailed out of the area. It was the Monster Reborn spell card. Alexis looked at it, surprised.

"You lucky son of a gun." Shadow chuckled.

"You know it! Catch ya later!" Jaden said and Syrus ran back to their dorm leaving Kurogasa and Alexis alone.

"So…" Alexis started to speak.

"So… uh… do you want me to walk you back to your dorm?" Shadow asked. She giggled and he blushed a bit. "I mean… it's not that far away but I wouldn't want you to get hurt and all." This caused her to giggle again.

"Thanks, but I can handle myself."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll see you around." With that, Alexis and left him alone in front of the main building. His shoulders slumped and he shook his head.

_"Ouch, rejected,"_ Custer sighed.

"It's okay. I still have these three years to try right?"

_"If you say so."_ Custer said. With that, Shadow walked back to his dorm


	3. Chapter 3

It was the next morning at Duel Academy and everyone was in class now. Normally, the seating chart would be first years were at the bottom and the higher years going up. But since they still that dorm color thing going, Blues were at the highest part of the classroom with Yellows at the middle, and Reds at the bottom. Shadow was sitting at in the middle of the classroom next to Bastion unfortunately near where the Obelisk Blue students were. And they've been giving him threatening looks too. Probably from what Chazz, Torimaki, and Raizou told the other Obelisk Blue students. But it doesn't bother him really. As all the students were finally seated, the first teacher showed up… which unfortunately turned out to be Crowler.

"All right everyone, be seated!" Dr. Crowler said, cutting off any noisy conversations. "Listen up, because I won't repeat myself; I am your first teacher of the day, Dr. Vellian Crowler and I teach the different types of cards. Now can anyone tell me the three types of cards in Duel Monsters and their categories? How about you, miss Rhodes?" Alexis nodded and stood up.

"Duel Monsters cards can be grouped into Normal, Effect, Ritual, Fusion, and the Trap and Spell cards that can also be monsters or summon token monsters. Trap cards can be grouped into Normal, Continuous, and Counter Traps. And Spell cards can be grouped into Normal, Quick–Play, Field, Continuous, Equip and Ritual Cards."

"Per~fect!" Crowler said, happily in a sing–song tone. "Well done, Alexis! Of course, I'd expect nothing less from one of my Obelisks!"

"Yes, Dr. Crowler." She responded as she sat back down.

"Hmm, now who shall we question next?" The doctor directed his attention to the lower seats, eyeing the Slifers. "You! Syrus Truesdale!" His voice caused Syrus to jump out of his seat. "Explain to the class, what a Field Spell is, please."

"Uh… a Field Spell… is the thing… that affects the thing…" Syrus started stammering and shaking, trying to avert his eyes from the class.

"Man… talk about nervousness to the extreme." Shadow groaned a bit to himself.

_"He just needs a bit more confidence."_ Match said who appeared in spirit form next to him. _"Like_ you _need more confidence in talking to girls."_

"Shut your trap Match…" Shaow grumbled to himself softly.

_"I'm just saying…"_ Match said before disappearing.

"Even pre–duelers know the answer to this one, ya Slifer Slacker!" One of the Obelisk students taunted causing most of the Blues to laugh out loud excluding Alexis.

"Wait, I know this one!" Syrus whined.

"Relax, Sy… You totally got this one!" Jaden assured his friend.

"I think not! Sit down." Crowler interrupted as Syrus did as he was told. "Now would someone else, kindly tell me the answer? Preferably someone not in red, thank you." This caused the most blues excluding Alexis and some of the yellows, excluding Shadow and Bastion to laugh.

"I blew it; I made all the Slifers look bad…" Syrus said depressed.

"You know something, teach?" Syrus turned his attention to Jaden who spoke out to the Blue Headmaster. "You shouldn't be making fun of the Slifers. I mean, I'm a Slifer that beat you so; when you make fun of the Reds, you're making fun of yourself!" Crowler was livid and started to bite down on a handkerchief while Slifer's busted out laughing, including Shade who was at the back of the class Chuckled a bit. Hell even Alexis laughed a bit.

_'That's it! I won't let this slacker in my school for another second! I'll see to it that he's expelled from here_ permanently!_'_ Crowler thoughtfully fumed.

Later on that day, they had the next teacher be the Slifer Red Headmaster… thankfully.

"Alright class, as some of you may know, my name is Professor Lyman Banner." He greeted. "I specialize in some of the lesser known tactics in the world of dueling, some which might be unnatural to even the experienced duelist…"

"By the way…thanks, Jay." Syrus whispered to a dozing off Jaden.

"No problem Syrus, for what?" Jaden asked sleepily.

"For sticking up for me!" Syrus replied a little too loud, making the Professor stop his lecture.

Jaden noticed Banner looking in their direction. "Uh–oh, I may have to do it again."

"Syrus?" Banner asked.

"Uh, yes?" Syrus stammered jumping out of his seat.

"Do me a favor and pick up Pharaoh will you?"

"Uh, Pharaoh?" Syrus blinked.

"Unless you're thinking about minoring as a scratching post." Banner joked. Syrus was confused until he felt something brush up against his leg. It was the fat tabby cat that was sleeping during the Slifer Welcome dinner. The class laughed as Syrus picked up the cat and returned it to its owner.

In Crowler's office, the doc was writing a letter down with a white feather pen. "How dare that Slifer Slacker Jaden make a mockery of me in front of my whole class like that." He grumbled as he folded up the letter and placed inside an envelope. "It'll be the last mistake he'll _ever_ make." He then picked up a mirror and… placed red lipstick on his lips… which was very creepy. As he finished, he kissed the back of the letter and chuckled to himself. "There, the big kiss–off!"

Next, he ran out of his office and into the boys' locker room, since Jaden's next class was gym with Fonda Fontaine, the gym instructor. "Now to plant the bait where Jaden will be sure to find it." Crowler snickered as he opened up about four lockers which were empty. When he got to the fifth one… "Ah ha! Jaden's shoes! He'll be sure to find it here." Crowler snickered to himself as he placed the letter on top of Jaden's shoes and left as quick as possible.

A little bit later, Shadow came into the locker room. He was finished with his gym class for the Ra Yellows and he was the last one in. "Man, Miss Fontaine is relentless with those exercises she gave us and school barely even started…" Shadow panted as he was changing from his gym to his regular uniform on.

_**"You sir are really un-fit"**_Shade Scolded as Shadow laughed.

_"She is right you know"_ a new voice said. A man with a pair of black pants and no shirt appeared. On his back were two scars that formed an upside down V. This was Shadow Hero: Fallen Angel or Patch for his real name.

"Yeah I know" Shadow complained "But you try and go through Rigours training With Big J for a day see how you like it"

Both Shade and Patch laughed before a female appeared and wacked Patch on the was wearing a pure white dress. This was Shadow Hero: Half Blood Angel also known as Nora

"Patch will you stop teasing Shadow" Nora said defensively " I watched Big John did to him and it was not funny"

_"If you say so,"_ Patch told her. The Hero then stood up a bit straighter and looked around. _"Someone's coming. Can't tell if they're a threat or not."_ Shadow nodded and after completely changing into his uniform he then hid behind a stack of lockers and looked over the side. He then saw that it was Syrus.

"It's okay guys. It's just Syrus. He's good." Shadow whispered. The Heros nodded before disappearing.

"Oh man! I'm so late!" Syrus cried as he ran for a locker. Quickly opening it, he spotted a pair of standard issue Slifer shoes. "Hey, these are Jaden's shoes. He must be borrowing my locker again." Grabbing the shoes so he could make room, Syrus gasped as he spied a letter sealed with a lipstick marking. His eyes widening, he picked it up. "But _this_ isn't Jaden's!" he continued to gasp. "This is a love letter!"

"Huh?" Shadow blinked. "Wait, you got a love letter Syrus?"

"AHH!" Syrus cried in shock turning around seeing Shadow walking towards him. "Shadow? Where did you come from?"

"I was here the whole time. The Ra Yellows finished gym class and I'm the one last in here." Shadow said. "I guess you're running late for gym class for the Slifer Reds, aren't ya?"

"Yeah…" Syrus groaned.

"We'll worry about it later. Open that letter up and let's see whose heart you managed to ensnare."

"Right." Syrus grinned goofily as he opened up the envelope and the letter that was inside. "From the moment I saw you… I've been in love with you?"

"Whoa… how'd you do it?" Shadow asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'd _tell_ ya if I knew." Syrus said then continued reading the letter. "Meet me tonight in the back of the Obelisk Girl's Dormitory so I can give you a big kiss. Endearingly… ALEXIS RHODES?!"

"SAY WHA?!" Shadow gaped. "Let me see that!" He said grabbing the letter and reading it, but then his face grimaced immediately. "Okay, I'm already seeing red lights here. Someone's definitely setting you up. This perfume smell also smells more like cologne than perfume. Although why is someone trying to set you up?" He then turned to his short friend. "Did you do anything to piss off anybody, other than Chazz?"

"N–No! I wouldn't do something like that!" Shadow frowned and then thought about it. Syrus was too much of a nice guy to actually do something to make people mad. If anything this was targeted at Jaden, seeing as they put it on top of his shoes.

"I smell a trap. Someone's gunning for Jaden."

"You think so?"

"I _know_ so." Shadow then paced a bit before thinking up a solution. "Okay, this is what we'll do. We go see about this whole thing tonight and spring the trap. If anything we'll find out who the real culprit is."

"Okay, but if we fail?"

"We'll be treated to a very big beating by the females in Obelisk Blue for 'peeping' on their dorm." Both Syrus and Shadow shuddered at the thought. Barely anything is scarier than a woman out to punish perverts.

"O–Okay. That sounds like a good plan."

"It's the best one we have so far." Shadow then turned and looked at the clock on the wall. "You should get to class now. You don't want to be late right?"

"Oh! Right!" And with that, Syrus got into his gym uniform and ran off. When he left, Shadow was thinking about what will occur that night.

_'We're going to get into trouble, whether we get caught or not. We'll be out during curfew and we'll be going to the Girls' Dorm. If anything, I'll have to sacrifice myself to save Syrus. He doesn't deserve a beating like that.'_

_"So we're going to sneak into the Girls' Dormitory?"_ Custer asked as he appeared leaning on the lockers. _"Never thought you had it in you. Match Maker would be so proud."_

"I'm not like that perverted turtle…" Shadow growled.

_"Although it's good that he's looking out for his friends,"_ a new voice stated. The Ghost Rider that appeared had a navy blue cowboy shirt and denim jeans. This was Ghost Rider: Dragstrip_ "That's very admirable of you Shadow. Just don't get yourself hurt."_

"Yeah, I'll be careful. Thanks Drag." Shadow said.

Later that night, it was time. Shadow had left the Ra Yellow Dorm with Shade and deck in tow. He told Syrus to meet him at the Ra Yellow Dorm near the lake. A few minutes later, he saw Syrus. "Hey, Shadow. You ready to go?" He then saw Shade with Shadow. "Why'd you bring her?"

"Ohh, just in case," replied Shadow. "You never know plus she is a girl. Now, let's get moving." The pair then got on a boat towards the Obelisk girls' dorm. The girls' dorm was a fair distance and security was constantly on the path that led up to it. The only way to get there would be by boat since there was a lake behind the dorm and a small dock was at one end of the lake. Syrus had leaped into a simple rowboat while Shadow got in also, rowing it.

"I'm coming Alexis my darling!" Syrus grinned happily. That got Shadow to stop rowing the boat and cover his mouth.

"SHHH! Quiet…" Shadow hissed. "You trying to get us caught now?!"

"Sorry…" Syrus apologized.

Meanwhile, inside the dorm, three girls were in the Obelisk Girls bath, enjoying the hot water as they chatted like all girls do. They were Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy. "Can you believe what that Jaden kid said to Dr. Crowler in class today?" asked Jasmine. "He's got some nerve to talk to a teacher like that. Completely disrespectful. Don't you think Alexis?"

Unfortunately, Alexis wasn't really paying attention to the conversation as she was just content with enjoying the water. "Actually, I think it was rather cool."

"What?! Him?! Cool?!" Jasmine cried out.

"He might be… if he had the talent to back up his talk maybe."

"Well, what about that Ra kid with those Shadow Hero cards?" Jasmine said. "I've heard Chazz and his buddies ranting in the halls about what that Ra kid said to them and what he did to Raizou. The _nerve_ of that guy!"

"Jasmine, Shadow isn't a bad person." Alexis then shook her head. "He seems rather nice too."

"Uh, hellooo. Have you seen how much he _stares_ at you?"

"I think it's kind of cute," Mindy giggled. "Although, he's pretty funny when he messes up in front of Alexis." Jasmine smirked at that.

"Yeah that _is_ a bit funny."

"Girls…" Alexis sighed wearily.

Syrus and Shadow soon made it to the girl's dorm and they docked the rowboat they were on. "We're here!" Syrus said with joy leaping out of the boat. Shadow groaned as he got off as well. The pair ran up to the front gates of the dorm with Syrus darting away, but on the way Shadow noticed something on the ground. Kneeling down, he saw a chain and a broken pad lock.

"Okay, this definitely has to be a set up." The Shadow Hero duelist frowned as he looked up to see Syrus still running forward. "Syrus!" He then ran after him. "Damn, that kid can run fast…" Little did they both know that Crowler was hiding in the bushes, wearing a tight, black leotard for some strange reason.

_'This will be perfect, thanks to that faux love letter I wrote! I'll just wait here for Jaden to come around while he searches for Alexis. And when the time's right, I'll snap a picture of him, creating evidence that will get him expelled!'_ Crowler laughed in his thoughts. He then saw someone coming. "There you are Jaden. You're falling right into my trap. Fall for it. Fall for it like the Slifer Sap you are." He snickered softly.

"Alexis?!" Syrus called out.

"Syrus!" Shadow cried. The Obelisk Headmaster's eyes bugged out to his horror.

"That's not Jaden! It's that stammering Field Spell nitwit! And what is that Ra kid with those Shadow Hero cards doing here?!" Crowler shrieked. His yelling ended up attracting some trouble.

"It's a boy!" a voice cried out.

"I'm not a boy, I'm a man…" Crowler said, thinking he was discovered. "Oh forget it… You didn't see me… You didn't see me…" He said getting away in hopes of not getting caught and dove into the water to escape, clumsily. Thankfully for Crowler, it wasn't him the girls spotted, it was Syrus and Kurogasa. The two boys were mobbed by several angry girls dressed in both their pajamas and their school uniforms. Then they were forced to their knees with several girls pinning their arms behind their backs and all of the girls gave them both dirty looks.

"Man… can today possibly get any worse?" Shadow muttered to himself.

"Please let us go!" Syrus whimpered. He was so scared that he might wet himself. Two girls stepped out the crowd. It was Jasmine and Mindy, only they were in their towels that were wrapped around their bodies.

"Not until you tell us why you're both here." Jasmine said crossly. "And it better be good."

A short time later, both Jasmine and Mindy, tied both Syrus and Shadow's hands together before dragging them both into the dorm for a proper interrogation. Adding on to it, Alexis, who was late to see the excitement and surprised to see Syrus and Shadow here on the Girls' Dorm. After Alexis' friends were dressed and all three questioned the boys.

"Okay, time for an explanation." Jasmine frowned. "What are you two doing here?"

"I bet you're both a pair of peeping toms, aren't you?" Mindy accused.

"No!" Syrus exclaimed fearfully. "Honest! I was just here to meet Alexis!"

"Huh?" the Obelisk girl in question blinked. "But Syrus, I never called you or invited you here."

"Huh? But… the letter." Syrus mumbled, feeling his heart breaking.

"Let me explain…" Shadow sighed. He looked up at the three girls. "Syrus found a love letter in his locker before Gym Class. I got suspicious when I saw that the letter was signed Alexis Rhodes."

_**"it's true ladies I have the whole thing in my database shall I play Sir?" **_Shade asked

"No it's fine" Mindy said to Shade "But that is a bit suspect"

"Totally." Jasmine nodded. "Your friend is really short and Alexis is really tall, she's great at dueling and he isn't, and she's really hot and…"

"I get it!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Anyway, we needed to confirm this with you Alexis." Shadow said.

"Syrus, do you still have this letter?" Alexis asked with her own suspicious frown.

"Yeah, sure." Syrus nodded as he managed to pull the folded letter out of his pocket. Gripping it in his hands he held it up for the Obelisk girl to take. Alexis picked up the letter and unfolded it. She and her friends peered at the letter for a moment to see what was on it. Alexis' frown increased before she looked at the short boy.

"Syrus, this isn't even my handwriting." Alexis sighed. "Not to mention that my name is spelled wrong."

"Huh?!" Syrus gasped in shock.

"I knew it was a set–up." Shadow groaned.

"Not only that." Jasmine added. "But this letter is addressed to Jaden Yuki."

"What?!" Syrus cried out. "You mean I can't even get a fake love letter?!"

"You mean you never noticed?!" Shadow gasped. "That's the first thing you check, man! I knew something like this would happen. Damn…" He groaned wearily before looking at Alexis and her friends. "Look, we're terribly sorry about this, we really are. But now that you know we're innocent, mind letting us go?" Alexis seemed to think about it before answering.

"Sure."

"Really?!" was the shocked expression of both Syrus and Shadow.

"What?!" was Jasmine's reply. Mindy was just calmly watching the whole thing. "You're just going to let them go?! Just like that?!"

"We'll let you go free, if you can beat me in a duel." Alexis said. Shadow sighed at this.

"I see where this is going." Shadow said. "I win, we go free, lose, we get reported, sound about right?"

"That's right." Alexis confirmed.

"Good thing I had Shade and my Shadow Hero deck with me. Alright, you're on."

Later on, the duel was taking place on the lake with Shadow and Alexis standing up in a couple of boats. Syrus was in Shadow's boat, and Mindy and Jasmine were in Alexis's. Crowler was in the water nearby, finally coming out of hiding, but still far away from the students. "Hmm… so it's that Ra vs. Alexis huh?"

"Hey Syrus. Make sure you record this on your Duel Pilot." Shadow said.

"Uh… okay, sure, but why?" Syrus asked as he took it out.

"Knowing Jaden, even if I did lose, which I won't, he wouldn't want to miss a duel." He said before turning back to Alexis.

"Let's make this interesting." Alexis said. "We'll both start with 8000 Life Points. Is that okay with you?"

"Fine by me." Shadow said as he took out his deck out of his deck box. "Shade aqua mode!" He said Shades body and tail receded to make a new duel disk that did not require a stabiliser. He then inserted his deck and Blue Veins lit up instead of red. Both players drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Alexis:** 8000

**Shadow:** 8000

"Ladies first!" Alexis said as she drew her sixth card. "I play Double Summon allowing me to summon twice. "So I summon Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater!" First, a red–headed ballerina in an orange leotard spun as she appeared (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1600) and another gray–skinned woman this one bald and wearing an ice skate on each wrists appeared, skating on the water (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1500). "I'll place a facedown and end my turn.

"My turn! Draw!" Shadow declared drawing his sixth card. "I place one card facedown." He inserted a card into his disk, "And then, I activate the Spell, Card of Sanctity, then chain it with Offerings to Doomed, and then Chain Summoning!" Everyone gasped as they saw the Persona duelist play three cards in the same Chain Link.

"Whoa!" Mindy gasped.

"Summoning three Monsters in one turn?!" Jasmine gasped.

"That's right. Chain Summoning allows me to summon three Monsters from my hand if the Chain Link is 3 or higher. Then Offerings to the Doomed destroys one of your Monsters, making me give up my next Draw Phase next turn. But that's okay, thanks to Card of Sanctity." Soon, Chain Summoning flashed to spread its magic over Shadow's side of the field. Then, Offerings to the Doomed fired a light laser to blast Blade Skater into pixels. Then Alexis and Shadow drew four thanks to Card of Sanctity.

"Now to take advantage of Chain Summoning," Shadow announced, putting three monster cards on the duel tray, "I summon Shadow Hero Dark Master, Fallen Angel, and Half Blood Angel!" Shadow declared. Three Shadow Heros appeared. The first one had Jet black Robotic amour and a silver pice of gadgetry on his hip. (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000).

Next the second Had jet black hair much like Shadow but he wore Black Jeans, no Shirt, and on his back were two scars tat formed and upside down V. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400).

Finally the last was a female with Brown hair wearing a white dress (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1650).

"I attack Etoile Cyber with Shadow Hero: Dark Master!"

_"Yes Shadow,"_ Darth replied. The Rider drew his gadget and turned it on. Suddenly a beam of red light appeared out of the handle.

Darth then ran forward towards Etoile Cyber.

"I activate my trap card! Double Passé!" Alexis shouted revealing her facedown.

"Double what?" Shadow asked since he'd never heard of that card before.

"Double Passé allows me to change an attack of one of your monsters when you attack one of mine that are in ATK mode. Your attack becomes a direct attack." Darth slipped through Etoile Cyber and slashed Alexis.

**Alexis:** 6400

**Shadow:** 8000

"But that's not all. After the attack is finished I can attack you directly with my monster." Etoile Cyber jumped over the three Heros and did a graceful kick onto Shadow. "Oh, and did I forget to mention that Etoile Cyber gains an extra 500 ATK points during the Damage Step only when she attacks directly?"

Etoile Cyber: (4/ATK: 1200–1700/DEF: 1600)

**Alexis:** 6400

**Shadow:** 6300

"Okay, so you got me back. Eye for an eye. No biggie. Patch your turn to attack her!" Shadow commanded.

_"Alright!"_ The Hero exclaimed loudly while nodding and punched Etoile Cyber into Dust.

**Alexis:** 6000

**Shadow**: 6300

"Lastly, I attack you directly with Half Blood Angel! Go Nora!" Nora was then turned into a demonic entity and pummelled Alexis

**Alexis:** 4600

**Shadow:** 6300

"I end my turn."

"Wow. It's early in the duel, and Shadow almost got Alexis to half the score." Syrus said to himself amazed.

"I have to say, that was pretty good move with you going all out." Alexis complimented.

"Uh… gee thanks." Shadow said blushing a bit.

"So it's only fair that I pay you back in kind. I draw!" Alexis drew her next card. "I activate the Spell Card Polymerization! With this card I can Special Summon a fusion monster from my extra deck by sending the needed materials from my hand or side of the field to the graveyard. So I send the Cyber Etoile and Blade Skater in my hand to special summon Cyber Blader in ATK mode!"

A carbon copy of the two monsters appeared and fused together to create a woman with long blue hair and light purple skin appeared. She had darker patches of purple on her body and some red pieces of armor with a red visor covering her eyes. Around her waist was a periwinkle tutu with ice skates appeared (7/ATK: 2100/DEF: 800). "Next I equip her with two spell cards. First I equip her with Fusion Weapon. I can only equip this to a Level 7 or higher monster and they gain 1500 ATK and DEF." On Cyber Blader's arm a red sort of crossbow appeared generating green electricity.

Cyber Blader (7/ATK: 2100–3600/DEF: 800–2300)

"The second card I equip her with is Twin Swords of Flashing Light – Tryce! I have to discard a card from my hand, but if I do I can attack twice this turn!" This time a pair of sabers appeared on her back as Alexis discarded a card from her hand.

Cyber Blader (7/ATK: 3600–3100/DEF: 2300)

"Whoa! That's a lot," Shadow gulped.

"Go Cyber Blader Destroy his Half Blood Angel!" Green electricity was charged in the fusion weapon and then Cyber Blader shot the beam out at the Beautiful Shadow Hero. Turning her into Dust as she was destroyed.

**Alexis:** 4600

**Shadow:** 5000

"Wait a sec I thought that Shadow heros stayed on the field when they were destroyed" Syrus questioned

"One of the down side's of that colar Shade is wearing it prevents my monsters from staying on the field"

"Then I attack Shadow hero Dark Master! Oh and since you have two monsters on the field, my Cyber Blader gets another effect. Her ATK points get doubled!"

"What!?" both Syrus and Shadow shouted.

Cyber Blader: (7/ATK: 3100–6200/DEF: 2300)

Once again Cyber Blader charged up her Fusion weapon and fired it.

"Sorry, you're not taking a huge chunk of my life points that easily. I activate Nutrient Z!" Shadow countered revealing the trap card. "If I'm about to take 2000 points of Damage, I gain 4000 before the subtraction!" A vile appeared in Shadow's hand and he drank the contents before throwing it away.

**Alexis:** 4600

**Shadow:** 9000

Then the green electricity destroyed Darth, turning him into particles of light.

**Alexis:** 4600

**Shadow:** 4200

"Whew… that was close…" Shadow said in relief.

"Yeah… _too_ close…" Syrus added.

"He managed to save himself somehow." Mindy commented.

"Man, I thought Alexis had him there." Jasmine pouted.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Alexis concluded and Cyber Blader's ATK went back to 3100.

"Geez… you don't pull back on your punches do you?" Shadow asked.

"Like I said, it's only fair that I pay you back in kind." Alexis stated.

"True. Now it's my turn. My Draw Phase is skipped due to Offerings to the Doomed. But I can still work with these cards in my hand. Two can play at that game using the entire hand. First I play Card of Demise letting me until I have five and I have to discard my hand after my 5th Standby Phase." He drew until he had five. "Next I play Spellbook Inside the Pot letting both draw three cards." Both drew three. "Then I play Monster Reborn, bringing back Shadow Hero Half Blood Angel to the field!" Purple flames burst out of nowhere and Nora returned. "Next I play Double Summon to summon twice this turn, so I now I'll summon Shadow Hero: Mecha Master and Assimilator!"

A man and a robot appeared. The man was implanted with a whole lot of gadgets and eyed alexis and her monster (4/ATK: 0/DEF: 1400).

The robot was cream in colour and had 4 of the same gadgets that Dark Master had (4/ATK: 1550/DEF: 1350).

"Now I'll play Dian Keto the Cure Master giving me 1000 Life Points! plus activate assimilators ability I choose any monster on the field and take it's attack points and I choose Cyber Blader " Sringes launched out of Assimilators fingers and ingested them into Cyber bladder Nabbing your ATK points (4/ATK: 0-3100/DEF: 1400)

**Alexis:** 4650

**Shadow:** 5200

"Then I'll play Megamorph! And I'll equip it to your Cyber Blader! Since my points are higher than yours, her ATK points are cut in half!" Alexis gasped when her monster was drained of her strength.

Cyber Blader: (4/ATK: 3100–1550/DEF: 800)

"And you're probably wondering how I managed to do that. I've been doing my homework lately even though it's only the first day of school today and I've been reading up on card effects. Including your Cyber Blader. Her third effect of negating my Spells, Traps, and Monster Effects only work when I have exactly three monsters am I right?" Alexis gasped at realizing it.

"So _that's_ why you used Monster Reborn earlier to revive Half blood Angel." Alexis said.

"That's right, so I don't have to suffer her third effect when I played Megamorph. Now I'll have Nora destroy Cyber Blader!" Nora turned into a demonic entity and destroyed Cyber bladder and Assimilator.

"Wait why was Assimilator destroyed?" Syrus asked

**Alexis:** 4350

**Kurogasa:** 5200

"Now I'll have Mech Master and Patch attack you directly!" Shadow commanded. Pach ran over to alexis as well as mech master

"If this hits, Shadow might win!" Syrus said to himself excited.

"Sorry, but I'm also not letting you get a good chunk of my Life Points! I play the Trap, Negate Attack!" Alexis countered revealing the facedown. "This stops your attack and ends the Battle Phase immediately!" A clear vortex appeared in front of Alexis and blocked the attacks. The Hero's then backed off.

"I'll end there with a facedown." Shadow said.

"Aw man…" Syrus groaned. "I thought we were in the clear."

"No worries Sy." Shadow assured him looking over his shoulder. "I'm gonna make sure I win." He then turned back towards the duel.

"It's my move!" Alexis declared drawing her next card making her hand at one. "I'll play this monster in DEF mode and end my turn." She concluded as a side way facedown card appeared.

"That's it?" Syrus asked confused.

"It's all she _can_ do Syrus." Shadow said. "Now it's my turn!" Shadow said drawing his lone card. "I'll have Mech master take a crack at that facedown monster of yours. Do it Genral."

_"As you wish."_ Mech Master or Genral Grevous said

Grevous ignited his sounds and slashed the face down making smoke appear as the card exploded. But then… when the smoke cleared, it revealed to be a mechanical silver jar with a green robotic eye and teeth. "Oh snap! You had Cyber Jar facedown?!"

"That's right." Alexis smirked. "And you know what happens when Cyber jar is destroyed." She said as the mechanical jar exploded so big, it took all the Hero's along with it creating some smoke to which Shadow protected himself from as it came towards him. "Your Monsters are destroyed and then we draw five cards. If we have any monster that level 4 or below, we can Special Summon them in ATK or facedown DEF mode. Any others are added to the hand."

"Man, we've been drawing cards a lot haven't we?" Shadow laughed a bit.

"Cards are power and our means of victory," Alexis replied to the rhetorical question. "Well, the Obelisk Blues would say something like that anyway."

"Elitists," Shadow shook his head.

"For the most part," Alexis couldn't help but agree. "Of course, we both know the reason why. A full hand means options and options are what we need to win."

"True."

Alexis drew her five cards and looked it over. "And I'll place this Monster facedown in DEF mode." She said as she did so.

Shadow also drew his five cards and looked it over. "And I'll play these two in facedown DEF mode." He said as he placed the two facedown horizontal. "And I'll Special Summon these two in ATK mode. I Special Summon Shadow Hero Scorpion and Sub-Zero!"

A ninja with a black outfit that was outlined in blue and his arms were covered in ice. He didn't wear a mask showing of a stern face with a red scar over his right eye (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200).

The next ninja that appeared came in a burst of fire an had two blades on his back. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1750).

"How many of those Shadow Heros did this guy have?" Jasmine wondered.

"It's a lot, that's for sure." Mindy answered.

"Not really." Shadow shrugged. "There's are probably as many as there are Elemental heros. But right now, let's get back to the duel. I'm still in my Battle Phase, so Scorpion aim for that facedown monster!"

_"Hmph!"_ Scorpion huffed drawing both his blades He then ran forward jumping up and then slashed down at the facedown, but then it revealed to be a muscular woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a mask wearing a gymnast clothes (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1800). "That was my Cyber Gymnast. Since her DEF is higher than your Monster's ATK, you lose points."

**Alexis:** 4350

**Shadow:** 5000

"Alright then, I'll end there."

"My move!" Alexis declared drawing her next card. "I play my Monster Reborn bringing back Cyber Blader!" The skating cyber warrior returned to the field. "Next, I'll have Cyber Blader destroy Scorpion! Cyber Blader then skated towards Scorpion before doing a somersault and acrobatic kick destroying him into pixels.

**Alexis:** 4350

**Shadow:** 4500

"Shadow!" Syrus cried out.

"And it's not over yet! I'll go to my Main Phase 2 and I'll activate Gymnast's ability! Once per turn, I discard one card to destroy one Monster on the field. So Sub-Zero's got to go." Alexis discarded a card and Gymnast ran towards Sub-Zero and the two fought for a while until Gymnast got the upper hand destroying him.

"And I'll react to that, by revealing my facedown Michizure! Since you destroyed Sub-Zero, I'll destroy your Cyber Blader!" Alexis gasped as her strongest was destroyed as well.

"I'll end my turn there." Alexis concluded.

"It won't be long now." Jasmine smirked liking it already.

"Yep. Once you lose, we're reporting you to the school authorities." Mindy added.

"Oh man…" Syrus groaned.

"Relax Sy, I promised that I'm going to win, and I keep my word on my promises." Shadow assured him. "You can count it." He then places his fingers on his deck. "I draw!" He declared and drew. "I play the Spell Card, Pot of Avarice! By sending five Monsters from my Graveyard to my Deck and shuffling afterwards, I can draw two cards. So I send back five Shadow Heros back to the Deck!" The five monsters came out of the Graveyard and Shadow placed them back in the deck. After doing so, Shade shuffled his deck and Shadow drew two cards. "Next I'll play my Magical Stone Excavation, by discarding two cards from my Hand, I can bring back a Spell card." He discarded two cards. "I bring back Card of Demise and play it." Shadow drew until he had five. "Now I'll Flip Summon Shadow Hero Match Maker and Shadow Hero Vampire Prince!"

At this point, two men appeared the first looked like City Slicker but with more class (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1400). In others words, Match.

The other one Had a red cape and Bloodshot eyes. (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). As soon as he did his entrance, Maxwell turned towards Alexis and soon as he saw her, he was suddenly enamored by her beauty. _"Oh my." _he immediately went over to her. Alexis and the girls were surprised at this as he held Alexis's hand like he would take the hand of a princess. _"Pardon me, but, may I ask for your name?"_

"Uh…" Alexis got out not sure how to handle this situation.

"Max! Now's not the time!" Shadow shouted. "Get back over here!"

_"But Shadow she–"_

"NOT NOW MAX!" The Shadow Hero then hung his head before turning back towards Alexis.

_"I will get your name later Princess."_ As Maxwell made his way back to his side of the field, Shadow frowned and glared at Match who was laughing.

"What' are _you_ laughing about?"

_"It seems that Max has something to talk about that I would also like to speak about too,"_ Match told Shadow.

"We are not talking about my love life here." He then turned towards Alexis. "I'm really sorry about that Alexis." He apologized. "You'll have to excuse his… princely manners."

_"Alexis. So that is her name."_ Maxwell said. _"Princess Alexis. It has a nice ring to it if I do say so myself."_

"Max again now is not the time!"

"It's… fine," Alexis said unsurely as she looked at the Vampire Hero. "It's a new experience getting hit on by a duel monster spirit."

"Heh, sorry about that. Most of them don't tend to talk to other people other than myself and my…sister." Alexis noted how Shadow sounded sad about the mentioning of his dad. She also noticed how the two Heros inclined their heads towards the boy.

_"Shadow…"_ Match said.

"It's alright… they can know about it…"

"Know what?" Alexis wondered.

"About my sister… she… disappeared three years ago…" Shadow said solemnly. Everyone present gasped at this. "She was a card designer for Industrial Illusions. The Ghost Rider and Shadow Hero cards were supposed to be one of the most promising expansions to date. But…"

"But?" Alexis asked.

"On the day she was supposed to propose the deck to Pegasus, she just vanished," Shadow explained. His voice sounder even more hollow. "Just… gone. I found the two decks inside a safe where she stored all her notes and stuff for her card creations. I've been searching for her for three years, and still I always come up empty."

"Shadow I… I'm sorry to hear that," Alexis replied at a loss for words. Even Mindy, Jasmine and Syrus who were watching felt sorry for him. That was such a sad story for one as young as him. Shadow then looked forward and with a determined face.

"But I'm not giving up! I know I will find my sister one day. And I'll do it with the deck's my Sister left me! So let's get on with this duel!"

_"Well said Shadow,"_ Match praised his duelist. _"We'll make a fine man out of you yet."_

_"Yes Shadow," _Maxwell agreed. _"We'll find your sister and rebuild our family once more!"_ The Hero then turned to Alexis. _"I hope you don't mind but, we are going to beat you."_

"Bring it on then." Alexis smirked.

"It's brought. Max, attack Cyber Gymnast!" At that point, Match seemed to be every where and delt blow wafter blow till the gymnast was destroyed

"Now Match attack her directly!" Shadow commanded.

_"You got it."_ Urataros said turning to Alexis. _"I don't fight women, but in order to win this, I'll have to."_ He took a cane from inside his shirt.

Match then took the form of a demon and sacked Alexis in the stomach.

**Alexis:** 2650

**Shadow:** 4500

"I'll end there." Shadow said.

"My move!" Alexis said drawing her card. "And I'll play Lightning Vortex! I discard one card from my hand and I'll destroy all your Monsters on the Field. She discarded her card, and a vortex of lightning appeared, sucking in Match and Maxwell in and destroyed them into pixels. "Now I'll summon my Cyber Tutu in ATK mode!" A little red-haired ballerina appeared in a red and white leotard with a white tutu. (3/ATK: 1000/AEK: 1000). "Now I'll equip her with my Megamorph! And my life points are lower, so her ATK points double!"

Cyber Tutu (3/ATK: 1000–2000/DEF: 1000)

"Now I'll have her attack directly!" Cyber Tutu spun towards Shadow and roundhouse kicked him in the jaw making Kurogasa stagger back a bit.

**Alexis:** 2650

**Shadow:** 2500

"Ow…" Shadow muttered rubbing his mouth.

"Yeah! Just two more direct hits and it's over!" Jasmine cheered.

"Then you two will be expelled!" Mindy said in a sing song tone.

"Oh man…" Syrus groaned.

"Don't worry Sy, I'm not gonna lose. I promise you that." Shadow said.

"I'll end my turn there. Better make this turn count Shadow." Alexis stated.

_'She's right, I better make this count.'_ Shadow thought as he placed his hand over the deck. "It's my turn! Draw!" All time seemed to slow down as Shadow drew his card. When he looked at it, he smirked at what he got.

**"**What would you say if i said thesis the final turn**"**

"Huh?!" All three girls gasped.

"You won?" Syrus asked hopefully.

"You bet I did. And it starts with this! I summon City Sliker in ATK mode!" The man in smart attire appeared twirling his Cane(4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600).

"How's he gonna help?" Alexis asked.

"Easy, by playing _this_ card." Shadow said as he held it up showing the reverse side and then flipped it over revealing the Shadow Hero Kratos. "I trust you recognise him and Slick can summon him via the fact of all i have to do is pay 100 life points to summon him without a sacrifice_"_A godly like figure appeared from the shadows he dragged a huge sword across the stage (7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1500)

"And when Kratos is summoned You take 1000 Damage".

**Alexis:** 1650

**Shadow:** 2500

"Whoa… that's cool…" Syrus said in awe.

_"Kid, you haven't seen _anything_ yet."_ Slick said.

"Good monster, but it's still not enough to get the rest of my Life Points." Alexis stated.

"True… at least not yet." Shadow smirked.

"Huh?" Alexis said confused.

"What does he mean by that?" Mindy wondered.

"How should I know?" Jasmine added.

"Well girls, allow me to enlighten you. I'll play my _own_ Lightning Vortex!" Alexis gasped as he discarded a card and the same events happened, only Alexis's monster was destroyed.

"Now for the big finish! Attack!" Shadow yelled.

_"You got it!"_ The slick shouted as slashed his cane across Alexis.

The girls on the boat braced themselves as their boat rocked violently from the impact of the attack as Alexis's Life Points depleted.

**Alexis:** 0

**Shadow:** 2500

"Game over." Shadow smirked rubbing the bridge of his nose as the holograms disappeared. Jasmine and Mindy were stunned at Alexis losing.

"Yay! You won!" Syrus cheered.

"Told ya I'd win." The Shadow Hero duelist said turning towards him. "Did you get all that?"

"Uh–huh." Syrus nodded as he stopped the recording on his Duel Pilot. "Jaden's gonna love this duel when he sees it." At the point, Alexis's boat came together with Shadow's.

"Good job," Alexis told Shadow.

"Thanks."

"Sorry for causing you girls so much trouble," Syrus apologized.

"It's fine. I mean you were set up after all," Alexis told him.

"We'll let you off the hook this time," Jasmine told them. "Just don't go coming back here again late at night." Shadow laughed and shook his head. Next to him Syrus was nodding his head furiously.

"Good match Alexis. Let's have a rematch one day yeah?" Shadow suggested to Alexis.

"I'd love that."

"Cool. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take Syrus and get out of here before anything else happens." The Hero duelist then turned towards Syrus. "Get to rowing Sy!"

"Wha–What?!" Syrus exclaimed. "Why do _I_ have to row?"

"I just dueled to keep our butts in the Academy. I wanna rest a bit." Syrus opened his mouth to complain but closed it a moment later. He knew Shadow was right, and it was his fault for dragging them here.

"Okay." Syrus then started to row them across the lake. The girls watched as they went, and started to laugh when Shadow had to start rowing himself since Syrus couldn't get them that far since he was tired too.

Mindy turned toward Alexis who had a smile on her face. "So what do you think of the Shadow Duelist Alexis?" she asked.

"He's… interesting," Alexis replied. "Let's follow their example and head back into our dorm. Miss Fontaine will be mad if we're not back before curfew."

The girls agreed and Mindy starting rowing the boat back to their dorm. As Mindy rowed the boat, Jasmine looked on at Alexis for a bit. _'I've never seen Alexis act this way,'_ Jasmine thought. _'Is she… actually falling for that Ra?'_

Crowler also watched Shadow departing. "So it's true of what Chazz and his group are talking about… that Ra Reject with those Shadow Hero cards has been beating my Obelisk students in a duel…" he hissed. "I'll find some way to make him pay… just as soon as I find a way home." He then dropped into the water below.

After sneaking Syrus back to his dorm, Shadow hustled back into his own. As he lied down on his bed he let out an exhausted sigh. "Damn, what a night," he whispered to himself.

_"I agree with that,"_ Match told him as he appeared. _"You set off a trap, helped out a friend, dueled a very beautiful girl and won. I say that is a pretty eventful night."_

_"You should go out to lunch with Princess one day,"_ Max told him. _"I would like to be in her company again."_

"Sure sure," Shadow yawned.

Just then his duel pilot rang Shadow quickly ran to see who it was

"Hey Baby" a female voice said

"Hiya Princess did you get the duel I just had?" Shadow asked

"Yep although I don't like the Look of her" The voice said

"you never like the look of an girl who duels me it's not my fault that i'm as handsome as can be"Shadow bragged

"yes feel i'll hopefully see yo tomorrow" The voice said

"I'll be waiting eagerly Princess see ya" Shadow said as he hung up.

UH-OH Shadow already has a girl hmm watch out Lex


	4. Chapter 4

OK it is Finally Up Also I Will Be Putting this on Hold For a Little bit so I can work On my other Story So Here you go

Oh BTW I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO GX

Chapter 4: Raring To Go

It was now the day before the first promotional exam of the year. The lecture was being given to the class by Professor Banner. The first day was so the students can get to know the teachers well, but since then, they changed the class schedule around. As of now, Professor Banner was the last teacher for the day. As class ended, Professor Banner spoke up before the students left.

"As a reminder to everyone, the promotional exams start tomorrow morning, headed by me." Professor Banner informed. "The written exam will start at exactly 9:00. And after, the dueling exams will start at 2:00 in the gymnasium, where duelists will be paired off against each other from their own dorms in order to promote to the next dorm up or in the Obelisk's case, stay were they are. So study well children!" The students then got up and left the classroom and into the hallways with Shadow walking out as well. Today he was wearing a black shirt with a silver colored GR logo on it

"Alright there, old chap?" Shadow turned to see Bastion walking towards him and now they are walking together.

"Yeah, Brain Trust just thinking about tomorrow's exams." Shadow answered.

"Well, no worries then…" Bastion said. "You'll be able to breeze through the written and dueling exams with no problems at all."

"You think so?" He asked.

"Of course. Just don't be paired up with me when it comes to the dueling exam." Bastion smirked.

"That statement screams "challenge" loud and clear you know." Shadow smirked back.

"Perhaps another time, but now, it's time to study."

"Oh, right. Well we better get to studying at the library then."

After about a few hours of reading, the Ra Yellow boys left and went their separate ways. Right now, Shadow was heading back to the dorm cafeteria for some food until he ran into Jaden and Syrus.

"Hey Slifer dudes." Shadow greeted.

"Hey Shadow!" Jaden greeted. "Whatcha up to?"

"Just got out from the library studying and about to about to grab some grub from my dorm. Wanna join?"

"Sure!" Jaden grinned.

"You sure about that?" Syrus asked uncertain.

"Why not?" Shadow asked back. "If it's the discriminatory thing you're worried about, then don't worry about it. I'll make sure those guys back off."

"Hey Ra Reject!" He turned around to see Raizou. "I've got a bone to pick with you!" Raizou said.

"You again?" Shadow groaned. "What do you want _now_ Raizou?"

"I want a rematch against you!" Raizou declared holding up his duel disk.

"I could give that to you but, I don't have Shade with me so…"

"We'll have to fight the old fashioned way!" Raizou interrupted, assuming a boxer's stance.

"You won't be doing that anytime soon." They were interrupted by a girl wearing the Obelisk girls' uniform. She was about 17, had long brown hair that fell to her mid–back and has brown eyes carrying a duel disk and deck. And she had a body figure that could rival Alexis's. Shadow recognised who it was. "Do it and the Disciplinary Action Squad will arrest you."

"And you are?" Raizou spoke.

"Alice? Is that you?" Shadow asked. The girl in question turned around to see Shadow.

"Hey there Honey! Long time no see!" Alice greeted.

"Yeah, it has been Princess."

_"Huh?! Alice_ _is here? Where is she? Where is she?"_ Princess of Darkness said as she appeared looking around until he saw her. _"Alice!"_ Princess of Darkness cried out happily jumping up and down waving at her.

"Hey there Sister!" Alice greeted waving at her.

"You know her?" Syrus asked.

"And she can see and talk to Duel Monster Spirits too?" Jaden asked too.

"Yes and yes. She's a neighbour of mine and she is my girlfriend. Every now and then I'd stop by at her old man's restaurant whenever I don't have anything to eat at home." Shadow explained.

"Hey! I'm still here!" Raizou said mildly annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, we're getting back to you." Alice said a bit annoyed turning back to Raizou. "Getting back to you, you need to stop harassing the lower dorms. It's making our dorm look bad."

"I still want my duel!" Raizou demanded.

"Then you can duel with me." She said as he held up her duel disk. "Take or leave it." Raizou thought about this for a while until he made his decision.

"Fine…" Raizou said, and then activated his duel disk with her doing the same. Both players then drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Alice:** 4000

**Raizou:** 4000

"Ladies first!" Alice declared drawing her sixth card. "You know, there are two things I love besides family and friends: Dueling and and my boyfriend. So what better way to do that than combine those together in Duel Monsters? Now, Bright Hero: Element Goddess in ATK mode!" From a flash of light, a tall woman wearing a full body white leotard with two X's on the shoulders . The weird thing was her name. (3/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1400)

_"Storm mistress of the Elements commands you to stop your evil way's!"_ The Woman cried and summoned a small cloud that produced lightning.

"What the–!" Raizou gaped who was a bit weirded out by her monster.

"Monster based on the X-men?" Jaden asked. "Now I've seen it _all_!"

"Yep. Her cards were also made along with my Shadow Hero's." Shadow explained.

"So she has two decks too?" Jaden asked exited

"No she only wanted one" Shadow stated

"I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Alice finished placing a reverse card on the field. Raizou soon got over his weirded out stage.

"You think that little girl will help ya? Think again! My draw!" Raizou declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Marauding Captain in ATK mode!" A middle aged man with blond hair appeared on the field. He had a sword in each hand and was wearing steal knight armor on his body. Behind him was a billowing red cape (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 400) "Next his ability activates. When he is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I choose to summon a second Marauding Captain!" A carbon copy of the knight appeared next to the first one. "Then I'll activate A. Forces! For every Spellcaster or Warrior on my side of the field, my Warrior types get an extra 200 ATK point boost each. I got two warrior types on the field. So that is a 400 point boost to each of my monsters."

Marauding Captain: (4/ATK: 1200–1600/DEF: 400) X2

"Now my first Marauding Captain will take out that lady!" One of the warriors lifted up his sword and was about to slash at it.

"I activate a Trap!" She said revealing a trap card. It depicted a chef secretly adding something into a pan filled with food. "Power up! This allows me to add an Equip Spell with "X-Gene" in its name and play it during the Battle Phase! And then it's sent to the Graveyard after." She took out her deck and looked through it and selected a card. "Now I'll play X-Gene – Iceman Offensive! This grants my Goddess 1000 ATK!" A green tube appeared over the previously named Storm's head and then it injected itself into her powering up Storm.

Bright Hero – Element Goddess (4/ATK: 1500–2500/DEF: 1400)

"Counterattack!" Alice commanded. Storm blocked the sword with an ice wall, knocking the swordsman back and then summoning acid rain melting him.

**Jade:** 4000

**Raizou:** 3000

The other Marauding Captain's ATK went down as well.

Marauding Captain (3/ATK: 1600–1400/DEF: 400)

"Grr… I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Raizou growled. Iceman Offensive was sent to the Graveyard, and this Storms's ATK dropped back to its original stats.

"My draw again!" Alice declared drawing her next card. I play the Spell, Roll Call!" She announced, inserting the card into his disk. It depicted a blue card with a red border with a X sign in the middle. "This adds another Bright Hero to my Hand!" She then searched through his deck and found another card. She then shuffled the deck and put it back into the disk. "Now let's light things up with Bright Hero Fireworks!" With some colourful explosions, a small girl appeared. She had a yellow coat ,denim shorts,pink shirt and pink shades perched on her head. (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400)

_"Allright!"_ The Girl cried out.

"Now I'll play Double Summon, allowing me to Normal Summon another monster this turn. Now Bright Hero – Pink Puffball!" A short pink ball with arms and legs appeared. It opened its eye's and started waving it's arms madly (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1600). "And I'll equip him with Power-up- Cutter! Giving him a 400 ATK point boost. A hat with a blade came out and landed on the pink things head.

Bright Hero – Pink Puffball (4/ATK: 1500–1900/DEF: 1100)

"First off, I'll have Fireworks attack… you directly!" Hazel declared.

"What?!" Raizou gasped. "You can't do that!"

"I can, as long as I have another Bright Hero on the field Fireworks can attack Directly. And I forgot to mention that Fireworks can't targeted by your Monster as long as another Bright Hero is on the field as well!" Alice countered. That got him to shut up as the shot off multi could lights, striking the enemy's duel disk.

**Alice:** 4000

**Raizou:** 2300

"Man, Alice is dominating!" Jaden said impressed.

"Yeah, no kidding." Syrus agreed.

"Now Kirby take out his Marauding Captain!" Alice commanded.

_"Yay!"_ The pink ball said said aiming his Cutter Hat at the warrior. The bladehit the blonde armored warrior destroying it into pixels.

**Alice:** 4000

**Raizou:** 1700

"Ha! You fell for it! I activate the trap Michizure!" Raizou countered revealing the trap. "Since you destroyed one of my Monsters, I can destroy one of yours and I'll take out that Pink Thing!"

_"Wahhh" _Kirby cried as he was destroyed into pixels.

"I'll place my last card facedown and end my turn." Alice sighed.

"My turn! Draw!" Raizou declared drawing his next card. He grinned at what he got. "Since you have two Monsters on your field, I can special summon The Fiend Megacyber in ATK mode! A yellow armored spiky warrior with robes that goes down its waist. (6/ATK: 2200–2400/DEF: 1200). Then I'll summon my Warrior Dai Grepher in ATK mode!" A warrior with a glowing blue sword appeared (4/ATK: 1700–2100/DEF: 1600), (6/2400–2600/1200) "Then I'll equip my Fiend Megacyber with Megamorph and its ATK points double since my Life Points are lower than yours!" Fiend Megacyber glowed with power.

The Fiend Megacyber (6/ATK: 2200–4400–4800/DEF: 1200)

"Dai Grepher, go for Element Goddess and Fiend Megacyber, hit Fireworks!" Raizou commanded. Dai Grepher charged towards Storm and slashed at her with his sword. Storm tried to defend but to no avail as she was destroyed into pixels.

**Alice:** 3900

**Raizou:** 2200

"Go Megacyber!"

Fiend Megacyber punched at Fireworks and the girl cried out in pain.

"I activate Nutrient Z!" She said revealing her trap. "Since you're about to deal at least 2000 points of damage, I gain 4000 first!"

**Alice:** 7900

**Raizou:** 2200

Fireworks then turned into a puff of smoke.

**Alice:** 3800

**Raizou:** 2200

"I'll end my turn there." Raizou said.

"It's my move!" She drew her next card. "I play Card of Demise! This lets me draw until I have five cards in my Hand. But I must discard my entire Hand after the 5th Standby Phase." She draws five cards. "Next, I play Card Destruction! I discard all my cards in Hand and redraw the same number. And since you don't have any cards in your hand, well, you don't get any." Raizou growled at this as she did as the card instructed.

"Why did she do _that_?" Syrus asked confused.

"Don't know. Whatever it is, she's got something planned." Shadow stated.

Jade looked at her hand. "Now I play Pot of Greed." She said playing it and then drew two. She smirked at what she got. "Time for your last play! First I'll play Junk Dealer to revive two Warrior Monsters with ATK stats cut in half. I raise up Bright Hero – Pink Puffball and Bright Hero – Pirate Queen!" The short pink ball with arms and legs appeared. It opened its eye's and started waving it's arms madly (4/ATK: 1200-600/DEF: 1600). And a human, wearing the garb of a pirate royalty appeared. (4/ATK: 1400–700/DEF: 1500)

_"Hiiiiii!"_

_"Let us win this!"_ The Pirate said as she drew her sword.

"Oh boy, Raizou's in for it now…" Shadow muttered.

"Huh?" Jaden and Syrus asked confused.

"You'll see…"

"Now I sacrifice My monsters so you can meet the headliner of my deck Bright Hero Black Beauty!"

A beautiful black Horse appeared without a rider. (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"Oh man…" Syrus said bugging out a bit.

"You said it…" Jaden added also bugging out. "That is one huge dragon."

"Like I said, Raizou's in for it now." Shadow muttered.

"So what? It's still not enough to beat me!" Raizou stated.

"It is when I play this! Hero Change! With this I can have my horse take on any equip Spell's I want And I choose Juggernaut Offensive And Utility " She inserted the cards, which caused a bottle Green Liquid as it was poured into the horse. "Now its ATK power doubles!"

"WHAT?!" Raizou yelled as Beauty whinnied with pride. (8/ATK: 3000–5000-6000/DEF: 2500)

"Finish it Beauty! Smash Warrior Dai Grepher to a crisp!" Alice commanded. And that it did. Beauty inhaled and Took off towards Dai Grepher. The latter tried to defend with his sword, but the sword was smashed instantly and Dai Grepher was pummelled into the ground before being destroyed into pixels.

**Alice:** 3800

**Raizou:** 0

The holograms disappeared and the duel disks deactivated. Alice glared at Raizou. "Maybe now that'll teach you not to mess with the lower dorms."

"Grr… I'll remember this!" Raizou growled before running off.

"Hmph… what a jerk." Alice scoffed before turning to the boys. "You guys good?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Shadow answered as he embraced Alice. "It's good to see you again Sweetheart."

"You too." Alice greeted.

"How's your old man doing?"

"Doing good. Mom and Dad are running the restaurant while I'm here." Alice answered.

"That's good."

"By the way, name's Jaden Yuki."

"I'm Syrus Truesdale. Nice to meet ya."

"Nice to meet you too guys." Alice greeted before turning back to Shadow. "So… any… news about your sister?"

Shadow only sighed at this. "No… still nothing…" He answered a little sad. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry… I'm sure she's out there somewhere…" Alice said.

"Me too…"

"Yeah uh…" Jaden interrupted the two making them look at him while Jaden scratched the back of his head while looking away. "Syrus showed me that duel you had with Alexis. Sorry to hear about your sister."

"It's alright Jaden." The Shadow Hero Duelist waved off. "I'll find her one day, I know I will. But now, let's not ponder at that. Right now, let's have an impromptu celebration lunch of Alice beating the crap out of Raizou in dueling!" Jaden, Syrus, and Alice cheered at that, and the group went over on their way to the Ra Dorm.

(Test Day!)

The next day, a fleet of ships and air planes cruised through the ocean. It was like they were heading off to war or something. "Attention all craft," the Captain spoke to his crew. "I know it's been a long journey, it seems like the whole world's been trying to get through our defense, but it'll all pay off soon. We will arrive at our final objective with our payload safe. So, full steam ahead men. This is the moment we've been waiting for, the moment Duel Academy gets their new rare cards!"

(At the Slifer Red Dorm)

"Jaden, wake up." Syrus said nudging Jaden to wake up. "The tests are today and we don't wanna be…"

"WRONG!" Jaden yelled, smacking Syrus in the face, knocking him to the floor. "Because I played a trap!" Jaden was still sleeping and turned over on the bed.

Syrus groaned, "Why can't he ever sleep in defense mode? It'd be a lot safer!"

"Duh, Syrus…"

The blue haired Slifer looked up to see a heavyset boy with a koala like face. His name is Chumley Huffington. He was looking down on him, head propped up on his arms. "You shouldn't be waking him up at all! Let him sleep it off and make our day easier. Get what I'm saying?"

"Chumley, I don't get _anything_ you're saying."

"Just think about it. After today's Written Test, we have a Field Test. And it'll be totally lishus for us both if Jaden slept right through it. The Field Test is where they pick class members against each other in a duel and I don't wanna duel the guy that beat Dr. Crowler. So if we let the competition sleep in, then we make out. _Now_ do you get it?"

"Yeah, I get it alright!" Syrus glared at Chumley, "And I'm starting to get why you were held back two years!" He turned back to Jaden who is still sleeping, "Jaden, wake up already, we're already late, I'll save you a seat! Hurry!" And with that he ran out the door.

Chumley sighed, "Fine… Plan B, it is."

(At the Ra Yellow Dorm)

Shadow was enjoying his peaceful sleep. The pillow was soft, the blanket was comfortable, and he was just content on a BOOM came from next door And Shadow literally Fell out of bed. Shadow then went on to get changed into his uniform. For his shirt, he wears a black shirt with a gold Lettering that said "Left 4 Life". After getting ready, he heard knocking on the door. Un plugging Shade so she could come with him Shadow went over to the door to open it and revealed to be Bastion.

"Morning."

"Good morning." Bastion greeted. "Ready for the test?"

"Yeah, I guess. But first, something to fill up my stomach. Breakfast."

"I'll second to that." Bastion agreed as Shadow closed the door to his room and locked it taking his room key with him and the two headed over to the cafeteria for breakfast. "By the way, what was that booming noise I heard just now?" Shadow asked as Bastion flinched at that and looked at him a bit surprised before calming himself down and turning his head back to facing the hallway.

"Uh… let's just say I had the alarm clock on too loud and leave it at that." Bastion said. Shadow looked at him suspiciously for a little bit until he shrugged it off.

(Later on, in the test room with Prof. Banner)

By now, after breakfast, most of the students were well into the test already. The Obelisks and Ras were doing pretty well, but most of the Slifers were having trouble as it is. For Shadow, he was getting the test done, and was already half way done. He should be done in another half hour or so.

_'Man, this test is easy.'_ Shadow thought as he was filling in an answer on his test. _'Then again, it_ is _the first one, so it's expected I guess.'_

(Meanwhile...)

"Man that five course breakfast Chumley cooked, sure was something!" Jaden had finally got out of bed and was dashing to the testing room despite how late he was. Along the path, a heavy–set woman wearing a pink blouse with blue overalls and glasses was having trouble pushing a van that was out of gas by the look of things. Jaden dashed right by her, kicking up a cloud of dust around the woman. But then Jaden skidded to a stop. "To be a gentleman or on time?" He asked himself. "Oh well, seeing as I'm never on time…" He ran back behind the van and gave a helping hand. "Never fear, Jaden's here!"

"Oh good! You must be from the auto club!" The woman replied, thankful for the help.

"Don't let the red jacket fool you," Jaden responded. "I'm just your average good deed dude."

"Isn't that nice?" She replied, but then the van started moving back downhill.

"It'd be nice, if I pushed!" Jaden grunted, pushing the back of the van again. "Now I can skip the gym!"

"You're such a sweet boy!" She said gratefully. "I'll remember this!"

"How about next time, you'll remember that extended warranty." Jaden grunted, but still smiling.

(Back in the test room...)

"You have forty–five minutes left to finish your test." Banner said to all the students, taking the test. Or at least, everyone that's not asleep. Syrus was falling asleep after all the all–night crammed up studying he was doing.

"…counters a Field Spell… which counters…" Syrus said drowsily. He didn't even answer a single question on the test.

"I didn't know this was an oral exam…" Syrus woke up to Jaden's smiling face.

"You're here." Syrus smiled a bit.

"You two want to keep it down?" Chazz said from his seat up top. "Some of us plan to pass this test."

"Hey, I always plan on passing; it just doesn't end up that way." Jaden argued.

"Oh Jaden…" The argument was cut short when Banner called him. "Why don't you come down here and get your exam."

"Be there in a jiff!" He said as he went to get his exam.

_'He_ better _be.'_ Alexis thought. _'We're already about fifteen minutes into this test. He'd be lucky to even_ finish_.'_

_'Look at him.'_ Bastion thought. _'Tardy and puerile. If only he applied himself, he would be a great duelist.'_

_'Man, I sure hope Jaden knows what he's doing.'_ Alice thought.

After another forty–five minutes, Shadow had finally finished the last Duel Puzzle on the test. That one he was having the hardest trying to figure out. As Shadow gave his test to Banner and started walking back up to his seat, the latter cleared his throat, "All right, children, the written exam is now over. Now please walk, do not run to get in line for today's new rare cards."

"They're here?!"

"Oh dear…"

As soon as those words left the professor's mouth, a mass mob of students got up from their seats and started running out with Shadow having no time to react being trampled over. "Uwhoaaaaa!" Shadow yelled as he fell down back first. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" He said as he was being run over by the sea of students who went to get first dibs on the rare cards as they ran out from the classroom. Of course, only Alexis and Chazz walked out and not run. Soon, only Jaden and Syrus, who slept through the whole thing, Bastion and Shadow who was still on the floor twitching were left. "Ow…" Shadow groaned as he now had shoe prints all over his face and clothes.

"You okay there old chum?" Bastion asked half concerned and half amused as he came up to him.

"Besides being trampled over by a mob of students who want to get first dibs on rare cards, yeah, I'm fine." Shadow groaned as he slowly got up from the floor with Bastion helping him up and Shadow rubbing off the shoes prints off his face. "Thanks. Man, talk about a rush hour."

"No kidding. Everyone's trying to improve their decks for the Field Test later on today so it's no surprise there." He then turned to Jaden and Syrus who are still sleeping. "Our friends Syrus and Jaden probably would benefit from the rare cards too."

"Better wake them up then," Shadow sighed then grind evilly. Both Ra Yellow boys went across the room and got to the snoozing Slifer pair. _**"OI! WAKE UP!"**_ Shade yelled loudly.

"Aaahhhhh!" both Slifer students cried out, leaping from their seats. Both of them looked to see Bastion and Shadow and Shade. Syrus rubbed his ear before turning to the pair. "Did you have to be so loud?"

_**"Then what'll be the point of waking you up then?"**_ Shade asked rhetorically.

"*Yawn* Hey guys. Is the test over yet?" Jaden asked sleepily.

"It ended just now." Bastion answered.

"Oh man…" Syrus groaned sadly. "I blew it… I studied all night for nothing."

"You know, if this were a class for melodrama, you'd get an A." Jaden said.

"Cheer up man." Shadow assured Syrus. "There's always next time."

"Anyways, everyone left to get the new rare cards that were shipped to Duel Academy this morning. We just thought you two would like to get some rare cards before they're all gone." Bastion said.

"Really?! Sweet! New cards!" Jaden grinned. "Thanks guys! C'mon Syrus! There's nothing like the smell of new cards in the morning!" He said as he grabbed Syrus, much to the latter's dismay, and dragged him out of the room.

"Are you gonna go too?" Shadow asked Bastion.

"No. One errant card and the delicate balance of my deck would be thrown off." Bastion replied.

"Oh Shadow." Professor Banner called making the Kamen Rider duelist turned to him. "Before you leave, I have something for you."

"Oh?" Kurogasa wondered as he walked down the steps and to his front desk with Bastion following. "What is it?"

"It's this." Professor Banner said as took it out of his pocket and gave it to him. It was… a pack of cards with a note attached to it and a Computer Chip.

"A pack of cards and Shade's Chip?!" Shadow gaped a bit.

"Yes. It was given to me by Chancellor Sheppard who got it by mail earlier this morning. And For Shade permission to use the Shadow Hero's Ability" Banner explained.

"I see. Thanks Professor." He said then turned to Bastion. "I guess I'll see you at the Gymnasium then for the Field Test."

"Uh–huh." Bastion replied and with that, Shadow left the classroom.

At the card shack, the students were banging down on the steel door, hoping to get first dibs on the rare cards before anybody else… then a group of guards suddenly came running towards the card shop and formed two lines to make an aisle.

"Oh children!" the Captain called to the mob of students who were banging up against the metal door blocking the Card Shop. "Looking for these?" The crowd burst into cheers. He held out the brief case. The metal door slid opened a crack. The officer bent down to enter. "Then come and get them." The metal doors opened and the card shop was revealed. The brief case was on a table… but it was empty!

Every student fell down anime style before getting back up. "Where'd they all go?!" A student demanded.

A counter girl was standing by the brief case and so was a man in a long black coat and hat. "You know the rules, first come first serve," the counter girl said.

"And I was here first, so I took everyone!" The man replied. The crowd then went away, with their heads hung low.

Later, Jaden and Syrus made it to the card shack. "Oh man! Don't tell me they're all out of cards already!" Syrus cried out. They ran to the counter to ask the counter girl, Sadie.

"Excuse me, counter–girl?" Jaden and Syrus went to the counter. "Do you have some packs left?"

"Sure we do, but just the normal ones. Here you go." She slid a single pack across the table.

"We said some, not one," Jaden complained.

"I'm done for," Syrus whined. "I slept through the written part of the exam and now I'm going to fail the field part because I can't upgrade my deck."

"Then you take the pack, Sy." Jaden offered.

"Really? You would give me the last pack that they have?" Syrus asked. "But what if… what if you fail?"

"I may flunk now and then but I never fail." Jaden said with confidence.

Meanwhile, Chazz's friends had just explained what happened at the card shop to him. "We couldn't get you a single one, sorry, Chazz." Raizou said.

"You know what's sorry? You two, but it doesn't matter, because there's not a single Duelist at this school who can beat me no matter what card they carry."

"Unless that single Duelist happens to be Jaden Yuki." The three Obelisk Blues turned to see a man in a long black coat and hat.

"Who are _you_?" Chazz asked.

"Somebody who thinks you despise Jaden Yuki as much as I do."

"That's him!" Torimaki cried. "That's the guy who took all of the rare cards!"

"Rare cards, _what_ rare cards? Oh, you mean… _these_?!" He spread his jacket open to reveal row after row of cards.

"Enough of the disguise," Chazz said. "Tell me who you really are!"

"Don't recognize me, Chazz? Well, how about _now_!" He threw off his hat to reveal himself…

"Oh, it's just Crowler…" Chazz said dismissively.

Crowler fell down anime style before getting back up. "Is that any way to talk to the one who's going to help you beat Jaden Yuki on the Field Test?!"

"But we're not in the same dorm," Chazz pointed out. "So I _can't_ be his test opponent!"

"Well I'll _make_ that happen, you just be sure to use these rare cards in the Field Test against him. Put him in his place once and for all in front of the entire Academy!" Crowler said as he laughed evilly. Little did they know that a certain Shadow Hero spirit who specializes in investigations was watching. He saw what he saw just now, and the incident at the card shop. Not to mention that he was inside the card shop when it happened too.

_"That's not good…I'd better tell Shadow…"_ Slick said.

After lunch, Shadow was in his room changing some cards in his deck, mostly spells and traps, and then changed into a new, blazer, and pair of pants. He now looked at the pack of cards he had recently gotten. Kratos appeared in spirit form.

_"Who's the letter from?"_ Kratos asked.

"Don't know." Shadow answered as he now opened the note. "It's from Pegasus." He said as he now read the letter.

_Dear Shadow-Boy,_

_I hope that this pack of cards and note came to you alright. Inside, are eight brand new cards I made specifically for your deck. Use them well. And I hope that you find your Sister soon._

_Signed,_

_Maximillion Pegasus_

_"From Pegasus huh? That was nice of him."_ Kratos said.

"Yeah. Well, let's see what we got." Shadow said as he opened up the pack from its silver colored package prison and it revealed as Pegasus said in the letter, eight brand new cards specifically made for his deck. Shadow grinned at this. "Hey, look at this; your brother got into the Bright Heros line I should Give this to Alice, and your two weapons are here too."

_"Oh good."_ Kratos said.

"And it looks I got a Field Spell, another Spell, and two traps to go with the deck too. Yeah, these cards will definitely be good for the deck." Shadow said and added them to his deck. Just then, Slick appeared in spirit form.

_"Shadow, I just saw something we should tell you about."_ Slick said_"And it's not good…"_ .

A couple minutes later…

"WHAT?!" Shadow shouted. "Crowler took all the rare cards that was shipped in this morning and gave them to Chazz so he can beat Jaden in the Field Test?!"

_"Pretty much."_ Slick said.

_"Why would he even do such a thing?"_ Custer asked as he appeared.

"Damn… it's all because Jaden beat Crowler at the entrance exams and he's been seething from that ever since." Shadow growled. "I'm telling ya, this whole social status thing between the dorms is ridiculous and Crowler's probably the bane of it all."

_"Well then, give him an ass kickin'!"_ Kratos said as he appeared.

"It's not that simple K." Shadow said. "By all means, I'd love to, but if I do that, I could definitely get expelled. And also, even if I did tell the teachers what Slick told me, they wouldn't believe me because I don't have any clear evidence. Well… technically yes because of you Slick, but they probably wouldn't believe I have all of you and the others as Duel Spirits." Shadow paced around the room like a tiger in a cage for a while thinking of what to do before coming to a decision. "I guess the best thing we can do is hope Jaden can win against Chazz to foil Crowler's plan."

_"Are you sure that's a wise decision?"_ Custer asked.

"No doubt it's not the best decision, but it's better than nothing. Let's head to the gymnasium for our Field Test."

At 2:00, The Field Test had begun. There were six dueling fields side by side. As he walked up to his field, he saw his opponent, who was also a Ra Yellow, who had pale forest green hair. His name was Brier. He met him during the first day of Duel Academy at the Welcome Dinner. He was a great duelist, but the problem is, he's shy crowds and around people.

"Hey Brier. Looks like I'll be your test opponent today." Shadow greeted.

"Y–Yeah, I guess…" Brier said shyly while stammering.

"Dude, just relax. You'll do fine." The Shadow Hero Duelist assured him.

"I–I know… but…" Brier began.

"Look, don't worry about the people watching, just focus on me and the duel, and you'll do fine."

"O–Okay." Brier said then straightened himself out. "Alright, let's do this!" He said activating his duel disk.

"That's more like it." Shade smirked and took his deck out of his deck box. "Shade!" Shade's tail formed into Shadows Duel disk and the rest other body became a counter weight. He then inserted the deck into disk Igniting the Red veins. Both players drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Shadow:** 4000

**Brier:** 4000

"I'll start first!" Kurogasa declared drawing his sixth card. He looked at his hand and smiled at what he got. "Nice… First I'll summon my Shadow Hero- Dark Horse in ATK mode!" At that point a man in a Jet black cape appeared with a stallion that had gleaming red eyes at his side (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600).

"Oh man…" Brier groaned.

"Relax Brier, it's just only my first turn, and I can't attack anyways.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown. Your move." Shadow finished as he placed a reverse card on the field.

"A–Alright then. I–It's my turn! Draw!" Brier declared drawing his next card. "I–I summon Goblin Attack Force in ATK mode!" A mob of four green goblins in armor appeared on the field with clubs in hand (4/ATK: 2300/DEF: 0). "And then I'll play the Quick–Play Spell, Forbidden Chalice! I raise its ATK by 400 and its effect is negated for the turn." A goblet of water appeared over the goblins and poured holy water over them.

Goblin Attack Force (4/ATK: 2300–2700/DEF: 0)

"Nice. That way, after it attacks, it won't go to DEF mode after. That's pretty good." Shadow complimented.

"U–Uh, thanks." Brier said. "Now I'll attack Shadow Hero – Dark Horse with my Goblin Attack Force!" Brier declared. The mob of goblins then ran over to Dark Horse with their clubs ready to strike.

"Activate Trap!" Shadow countered revealing it. "Negate Attack! This will stop your attack and end the Battle Phase immediately!" A clear vortex appeared in front of Horse and blocked the attack, knocking the mob of goblins back to Brier's side of the field.

"Urgh… I'll place one card facedown." Brier stated placing a reverse card on the field. "T–That ends my turn." Goblin Attack Force's stats went to normal.

"My move!" Shadow declared drawing his card. "Well, whaddya know? A new card I got this morning. And I'll play it. I play the Field Spell, Shadow City!" He declared. A slot for the Field Spell opened up and placed it in there. By now, tall skyscrapers and buildings rose up from the grounds much like Jaden's Skyscraper. "And you'll see it its effect as soon as I have Shadow Hero Dark Horse Attack you Oh by the way his ATK increases by 1000 when he is by himself"

He ran towards the mob then he slashed at the mob of goblins and the latter was destroyed into pixels.(4/ATK: 1800-2800/DEF: 1600)

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Brier:** 3500

"Now Shadow City's effect activates! Whenever I destroy a Monster, I can Special Summon a Shadow Hero in my deck with 300 more ATK. And I choose Shadow Hero Dark Master!" A Man in a Jet black Robotic suit appeared (4/ATK: 1400-1700/DEF: 1000).

"Too bad for me, because I can't attack with the Monster that was special summoned." Brier sighed in relief. "I'll end my turn with a facedown."

"M–My turn!" Brier declared drawing his next card. "I activate Earthquake to switch all monsters to DEF mode!" The floor shook on the field and Horse and Darth were forced on their knees. "Then I activate my facedown card, Micro Ray!" He said next revealing his facedown. "Shadow Hero Dark Horse DEF 0!" A light shined on Horse causing the latter to cover his eyes.

Shadow Hero Dark Horse (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600–0)

"Now I summon Asura Priest!" A blue skinned man with yellow lines all over with three heads blue hair tied in a ponytail wearing robes with six arms appeared (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000). "And next I'll equip him with Big Bang Shot to increase his ATK by 400 and the ability to deal Piercing Damage!" Charging Asura Priest with power.

Asura Priest (4/ATK: 1700–2100/DEF: 1000)

"This is gonna hurt…"Shadow muttered.

"Now I'll attack both your Shadow Hero Dark Horse and Dark Master!" Brier declared. Asura Priest then puts his three pairs of hands together chanted something ominous before his eyes opened up glowing yellow and send blue energy in the form of hands and crushed Horse and Darth.

**Kurogasa:** 1150

**Brier:** 3700

"I'll end there. And now Asura Priest goes back to hand since he's a Spirit." Brier said as Asura Priest disappeared and Brier placed the card back in his hand. And Big Bang Shot was destroyed.

"Wow, for someone who's nervous, you got a good chunk at my Life Points. Pretty good."

"Thanks." Brier thanked.

"My turn! Draw!" Shadow declared drawing his next card. "He looked at the card he drew and grinned at what he got.

"Sorry Brier but this is the Final Turn!"

"Huh?" Brier asked completely caught off guard on that. Even some of the people watching their murmured at this.

"And there it is again." Bastion stated. "He's got the duel won, the moment he drew something he needed.

"First I summon Shadow Hero Dark Beserker!" A man with a Crimson Red cape took the field he wore no shirt and long black jeans (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000)

"Then I shall Bring Dark Horse Back With 100 Extra Attack Thanks to his Ability" The spirit on the field became solid again and grew Stronger (4/ATK: 1800-1900/DEF: 1600)

"And now I play Double Summon to summon Shadow Hero: Dark Kratos and when he is summoned you take 1000 points of Damage" Shadow announced as his star monster made his Appearance.(7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1500)

**Shadow:** 1150

**Brier:** 2700

"and Now i shall activate The second effect of Shadow City for every monster on my field you lose 1000 Life points to bad since I have 3 thanks to my sacrifices becoming spirits"

**Shadow:** 1150

**Brier:** 0

The holograms disappeared and the duel disks deactivated. Some of the people cheered at the duel that just happened. Shadow went up to Brier. "You did good Brier."

"Yeah, but I still lost." Brier said sadly.

"True, but you did it all without acting all nervous and you stayed focused. That's good. Sure, you'll most likely not get promoted since you lost, but I'm sure this duel will give you some high marks on your record."

"Y–You think so?"

"Definitely. You just gotta practice more and who knows, you might get promoted."

"A–Alright." He said smiling a bit.

A little later on after Shadow left the arena and Bastion winning his duel, the two met up at the stands. "Hey Bastion, great duel out there."

"Thank you." Bastion said politely.

"Hey there people!" a girl's voice said. Shadow and Bastion turned to see Alice coming towards them.

"Hey Princess." Shadow greeted.

"You know her?" Bastion asked.

"Yep. Neighbor of mine back home and my girlfriend." Shadow answered. "How was your duel?" He asked Alice.

"It went great. I won of course."

"Cool. Now let's see this last match that's going to happen…" Shadow said turning to the field and saw Jaden and Chazz about to go against each other.

"Wait, what?!" Alice asked in disbelief looking at the gymnasium floor as well.

Jaden gasped, "You mean I'm dueling an Obelisk and it's Chazz?" He asked Crowler who was judging their exam.

"That's right, Jaden," the teacher confirmed. "Since you always talk such a big game, I decided to pull some strings for you so you got the challenge you deserve." He pointed to Chazz, "So congratulations, you'll be dueling one of the top ranked students at the school, what an honor! I sure hope you were able to snag a lot of today's rare cards so that your deck's up to snuff."

_'Yeah right, Crowler, you're the one that stole them all and gave them to Chazz.'_ Shadow growled in his thought.

"What's wrong, aren't you going to thank me?" Crowler asked.

_'I have a bad feeling about this.'_ Syrus thought.

_'This is clearly a trap,'_ Bastion thought. _'Crowler hopes to expel Jaden by having him duel a powerful opponent with nothing stacked in his favor. Only a cavalier fool would agree to this.'_

"I'll do it!"

Everyone gasped at Jaden's answer.

"Say what?! Is he crazy?!" Alice practically screamed out. Shadow could only narrow his eyes as he watched.

"All right, Chazz, get your game on," Jaden said. "Now we'll get to finish what we started at Obelisk Arena."

"Indeed," Crowler said indifferently. "And in front of the whole school too so everyone can watch."

"Yeah, watch you get slammed by me," Chazz jabbed. They inserted their decks into their Duel Disks and drew their starting hand with Crowler running out of the way.

"DUEL!"

**Chazz:** 4000

**Jaden:** 4000

"No excuses this time, Chazz."

"Bring it, Slifer Slacker!"

"Oh, it's brought! My draw!" Jaden drew his sixth card.

_"Coooo."_

"Well, if it isn't my favorite furry friend," Jaden said looking at his Winged Kuriboh card he just drew. _'Kuriboh, you're in for a treat, because we're about to rain down some serious moves on Chazz.'_ "You remember this guy from our first duel, don't you, Chazz? Elemental Hero Clayman!" Jaden summoned a bulky rock warrior in DEF mode (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 2000). "And he'd like to get reacquainted."

"Not after he sees what _I_ got for him. Don't think that overgrown pile of pebbles stand a chance against me, or against this!" He drew a card. _'Appreciate the rare cards, Crowler.'_ "Fresh off the presses, Magical Mallet!"

"What's that?" Jaden asked.

"A redo. All the cards in my hand that I don't want I return to my deck and then I can draw the same number of cards."

"A rare card on the first draw?" Syrus gasped.

"And a very dangerous card at that," Bastion explained. "Now Chazz will be able to pick exactly which cards he wants and which cards he doesn't."

"I didn't even get to the best part," Chazz said, redrawing from his deck and showing Magical Mallet again. "You see, Jaden, I got to shuffle Magical Mallet too! So if I drew it again, which I just did, I can play it again and again. And that comes in handy, know why? Because it comes in handy when I'm looking for this! V–Tiger Jet, sharpen your claws for ATK mode!" A yellow mechanical tiger, shaped like a fighter jet appeared. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800)

"Oh no, not those…" Shadow groaned.

"And there's a lot more where that came from! Check out the magic of Frontline Base, it lets me summon a level 4 or below monster this turn. And I have just the one, W–Wing Catapult!" A blue jet platform appeared. (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500) "Gentlemen, start your engines!" The set of wings took off and the V–Tiger Jet soon joined it. "Now merge!" The Catapult revealed two missile launchers. The Tiger Jet landed on top of it. Thruster units appeared on the back of both the machines. (6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2100) "All right, the VW–Tiger Catapult!"

"Oh man… Jaden's gonna have a hard time with this duel now." Shadow cringed.

"But wait, I'm not done yet, because he still has his special ability." Chazz told Jaden.

"That's not good," Jaden muttered.

"Is this guy's turn going to end sometime this century?" Syrus asked.

"By sending a card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into ATK mode!" The card face Clayman was kneeling on disappeared as he stood up. "So after this Heat–Seeker Blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast!" The Tiger Catapult fired its missiles and destroyed Clayman.

**Chazz:** 4000

**Jaden:** 2800

Crowler saw all this from the special viewing box where he was watching with Chancellor Shepherd. "My goodness, looks like Jaden can't play with the big boys after all. I guess he's not as good as he thinks."

Shepherd just stared out the window.

"I'll finish up with one card facedown." Chazz said as a reverse card appeared on the field.

"You go ahead and finish up while I'm just getting _warmed_ up." He drew a card. "Speaking of, here's a guy who can really turn up the heat, Elemental Hero Sparkman in DEF mode!" The warrior in the yellow and blue armor suit appeared crossing his arms (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "And I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"Not much else he can do with all the new rare cards Chazz seems to have," Bastion said.

Alexis was also watching the duel but from behind. _'This is a complete mismatch, how can Jaden fight back if he doesn't know what he's fighting?'_

"Ready for round two, Slifer Slime?" A blue machine with a spike ball lower region and two cannon barrels on its shoulders appeared. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500) "Well X–Head Cannon is and thanks to Frontline Base, so is Z–Metal Tank." A yellow tank that looked more like some kind of cruiser than an actual tank also appeared. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1300)

"Wait, X _and_ Z?" Syrus said. "That can mean only one thing…"

"Now I play my facedown card," Chazz said as his trap card was lifted up. "Call of the Haunted, and in case you slept through that class as well, it lets me bring a monster back from the graveyard. And I choose…" A red metallic dragon appeared. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600)

"It's him!" Syrus gasped.

"He has it!" Bastion confirmed.

"Oh no!" Alice gasped.

"That's right, it's Y–Dragon Head! I discarded it with my Tiger Catapult's special ability." The new monsters flew up. "And next I'll combine them to create the XYZ–Dragon Cannon!" The monsters then attached themselves with X–Head Cannon on top, Y–Dragon Head in the middle, and Z–Metal Tank on the bottom (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600)

"Now Chazz has two monsters out with over 2000 attack points each," Bastion said.

"Damn it!" Shadow cringed his face in anger clenching his fist. "It's over!"

"But wait, Jaden, there's more." Jaden gasped. Shadow blinked at this. "Actually, less, you see they say that two heads are better than one. But I would have to disagree, especially when the one in question is the ultimate V to Z Dragon Catapult Cannon!" The two machines joined and transformed. The new creation looked vaguely humanoid and was made up of all the machine monsters Chazz had. (10/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2800)

Shadow scoffed in relief. "Jaden, you lucky son of a gun. You lucked out."

"What do you mean he lucked out?" Alice asked in disbelief.

"Chazz could've ended it right there, but his arrogance of making V to Z Dragon Catapult Cannon got in the way."

"Makes your Sparkman look like a spark plug, or at least it did." Chazz said as Sparkman disappeared.

"My Sparkman!" Jaden cried as the audience gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I mention V to Z's special ability? He allows me to remove one card on your side of the field once per turn." He chuckled. "And if you think that's impressive, wait until you see its attack, an attack that will strike your life points directly."

"Not so fast, Chazz, I have a trap, A Hero Emerges!"

"Blast!" Crowler cried.

"A Hero what?"

"Emerges, as in emerges onto the field. You see, now you have to choose a card from my hand and if it's a monster card, I get to play it. So take your pick, Chazz."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, the far right."

"Sweet, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, I'll play her in DEF mode." The fiery female hero took a defensive stance. (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)

"That's what you think, you Slifer Slacker, when Dragon Catapult Cannon attacks, I get to switch one of your monsters into ATK mode." Burstinatrix stood. "Which means not only will she get zapped!" The Dragon Catapult Cannon fired a lightning blast. Burstinatrix cried out in pain as she was destroyed. "But your life points will too."

**Chazz:** 4000

**Jaden:** 1000

The crowd gasped.

"Aww, what's the matter, Jaden, having some test anxiety?" Chazz taunted. "I knew scum like you didn't belong at this Academy, but don't worry because it will all be over soon!"

"No way, Chazz, I still have a whole army of vicious monsters in my deck ready to get at you. This isn't over, it's only just barely started! My draw!" He drew a card.

And gasped. "Hey, this is…"

Flashback

_"Excuse me, counter–girl?" Jaden and Syrus went to the counter. "Do you have some packs left?"_

_"Sure we do, but just the normal ones. Here you go." She slid a single pack across the table._

_"We said some, not one," Jaden complained._

_"I'm done for," Syrus whined. "I slept through the written part of the exam and now I'm going to fail the field part because I can't upgrade my deck."_

_"Then you take the pack, Sy." Jaden offered._

_"Really? You would give me the last pack that they have?" Syrus asked. "But what if… what if you fail?"_

_"I may flunk now and then but I never fail." Jaden said with confidence._

_"Yoo–hoo! Auto club!" A voice said from the counter, it was the same heavyset woman that Jaden helped out._

_"Oh hey there Ms. Uh…"_

_"Dorothy." The heavyset woman said._

_"Got it. So you work here too?" Jaden asked._

_"No, I don't work here, I own here. Pretty cool huh?" Dorothy said._

_"No, it's totally sweet."_

_"How do you know her Jaden?" Syrus asked._

_"Oh uh, I think it was the carburetor." Jaden smiled goofily._

_"By the way, I have something for you." Dorothy said making her giggle as Jaden and Syrus looked at her. "Just call it a thank you for helping me. Now I know I said we ran out of cards, but I did hide away few." She said as he pulled a few packs of cards. "For polite students like yourself. Maybe you can put them to some good use. When you're not fixing cars that is." Jaden said look at her and the packs of cards dumbfounded. And that's an understatement._

End Flashback

"What do you think, Winged Kuriboh?" Jaden asked. The card cooed in agreement. "Well, all right, if you say so, let's do it! I summon Winged Kuriboh in DEF mode!" The Kuriboh with white wings appeared. (1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200) Suddenly, all most of the females in the crowd squealed at its cuteness with Winged Kuriboh actually sweat dropping at this. And unfortunately Syrus, Bastion, and Kurogasa, they were in the center of it all. "And I'll throw down a facedown." Jaden concluded. "That's it."

"That's it?" Syrus asked. "All he's done is play defense."

"Let's hope that facedown of his helps." Shadow stated.

_'I sure hope Jaden knows what he's doing,'_ Alexis thought looking at Jaden wide–eyed.

"That's all, huh? Good, because now I get to cook that Kuriboh and I like mine well done." Chazz said as he drew a card. "There's about to be a fried furball on the Field, you loser!"

"You don't scare me!" Jaden argued.

"I don't have to, that's _his_ job." Chazz said pointing at the Dragon Catapult Cannon. "Dragon Catapult Cannon attack!" A giant blast of energy headed right for Winged Kuriboh.

"JADEN!" Syrus cried.

_'Secret weapon time'_. Jaden ditched two cards to his Graveyard. "Not so fast, Chazz, by sending two cards to the graveyard, I can activate my facedown card Transcendent Wings!"

"WHERE DID HE GET THAT?!" Crowler cried. Winged Kuriboh's wings suddenly grew and deflected the blast.

"It can't be!" Chazz exclaimed.

"Oh it be," Jaden confirmed. "Transcendent Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a level 10 monster." Winged Kuriboh Level 10 was now wrapped in a helmet that looked like a dragon with extremely large angelic–like wings. (10/ATK: 300/DEF: 200) "And it gets better, by sacrificing itself, Winged Kuriboh destroys all monsters in ATK mode and deflects their ATK points back as damage to you. Kuriboh, show him how it's done!" Dragon Catapult Cannon's blast was reflected back at the machine and it was destroyed.

**Chazz:** 1000

**Jaden:** 1000

The crowd gasped at this. "Lucky punk," Chazz said glaring daggers at Jaden.

"Lucky?" Jaden asked. "Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies. But not for you, Chazz, and that's too bad because with a thousand life points apiece and my turn coming up, all I need is the right monster and you'll be finished."

"You're bluffing!"

"Maybe, but it _would_ be interesting if that happened right? Here goes something!" Jaden drew a card. "Yes! Elemental Hero Avian!' The feathered E–Hero appeared, shocking all of the spectators (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "Attack!" The winged hero charged forward and slashed its claws across at Chazz.

**Chazz:** 0

**Jaden:** 1000

"He did it!" Syrus cried happily.

"Impossible!" Crowler cried leaning against the glass. "Not with all the rare cards I gave Chazz, this simply can't be!"

"Rare cards, what exactly are you talking about, Crowler?" Sheppard asked.

Crowler jumped, right now, he realized he talked loud enough for Chancellor Sheppard to hear. "Uh… nothing… I… uh… have to go grade some tests." He quickly walked off. Shepherd laughed at Crowler's back. Unknown to Crowler, Shadow watched the whole thing and smirked.

"Hmph. Serves you right Crowler. Your plot to humiliate and possibly expel Jaden has failed." Shadow smirked.

_"You can say that again."_ Kratos said as he appeared. _"I still say, you should've given him an ass kickin'."_

"And be expelled for that? I don't think so." Shadow said. Kratos shrugged at this and then disappeared and Shadow went to the field to meet Jaden.

Jaden waved to the crowd who was cheering for him, and pointed at Chazz. "That's game," Jaden said doing his signature pose. "Unless you want to duel again."

"Oh we will…" Chazz hissed.

"Jaden!"

"Hey Jaden!" Syrus, Shadow, Alice, and Bastion ran up to him.

**"That was well done, Jaden."** It was Chancellor Shepherd, speaking over a loudspeaker. **"Never in the history of our revered Academy has a Slifer ever dueled an Obelisk at these exams. Not only did you hold your own, but you won! Your courage against overwhelming odds is… inspiring. It is with great pride that I grant you the promotion to Ra Yellow. Good job!"**

The crowd cheered again.

"You're the best, Jaden!" Syrus complimented throwing him a hug.

"I do what I can," Jaden said with a smile.

"Great duel out there!" Alice praised.

"Yes, good show, Jaden, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Ra dorm." Bastion offered.

"Don't forget me." Shadow said.

"Thanks guys," Jaden said shaking hands with both of the Ra Yellow students.

Later that night at the Slifer dorm, Chumley and Syrus were in their room.

"Hey Syrus, if you're not gonna do anything constructive, then you might as well make me a grilled cheese." The koala boy said.

"I just thought Jaden would say goodbye to us at least… that's all." Syrus said sadly.

"Hey guys." A voice said. Syrus and Chumley turned to see… Jaden?

"Jaden?! Why are you here?!"

"I wanted to say congrats on passing your Field Test. Also, in case you've forgotten," he placed his hands on his hips, "I _live_ here!"

"Huh?!"

Jaden shrugged, "Sure, Ra Yellow has nice, clean sheets, lack of cockroaches, and those spiffy blazers, but without you Syrus, it's not my home!" he explained. Syrus sniffed and dove at him, tears falling from his eyes like a waterfall. His roommate squirmed, "Hey! Easy, Syrus, you're getting my jacket soaked!"

Syrus looked up, tears still going, "I thought… I thought I lost you forever! Now I'm never letting go!"

Jaden sweat dropped, "Just chill out, Syrus! Come on, get off!"

"Let me just give you a few more hugs!"

"It's not the hugs, it's the waterworks!" Jaden laughed.

Chumley laughed as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Some Kamen rider references in this chapter you have been warned**

Chapter 5: The Return of the Shadow Games

The Abandoned Dorm, a forbidden place in Duel Academy, and a spooky one at that. It wasn't like any of the dorms. It was a large, run–down building with boards over the windows and the front door broken open. Even though the place was deserted and abandoned, one person frequently visited since she came to the island. Alexis Rhodes. She walked through the trees and stopped right at the wall and 'Do not enter' sign. Next, she laid down a red rose at base of the wall…

"Be at peace brother, wherever you are…"

Meanwhile…

At the Slifer dorm's mess hall Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were telling ghost stories along with Shadow and Shade showing up. Shadow got introduced to Chumley and after that continued to tell ghost stories. As of now, it was Syrus's turn.

"I went out into the woods, and underneath the full moon, I see a path leading to a cavern that seems… abandoned!" Syrus said taking his turn.

"Oh really?" Jaden asked interested. "And then what?"

"Then at the back of the cavern I see a mysterious lake. So I go in to look very carefully. And under just the right angle of light, at the very bottom of the lake beyond my reflection, I see a rare and powerful card. Naturally, I go to get it, but when I reach out for it… an arm shoots out of the water, grabs me, and begins to PULL ME INTO THE LAKE! AAAAAHHHHHHHH! HELP ME, NOT THE WATER, NOT THE WATER!" Apparently Syrus had gotten too much into his story.

"Water's not so scary," Jaden said.

"Even dirty swamp water?" Syrus sighed, "You're right, only a chump would be afraid of a story like that," he said unaware that Chumley had taken a position in the far corner of the room.

"Still, good story," Jaden said picking up a four star monster called Earthbound Spirit. "Mid–level scares for a mid–level card." Apparently, the rules were you had to tell a scary story depending on the level of the monster was. He then drew a card from the deck. "But me, I hope I can get a high number card…" But the card Jaden drew was Sinister Serpent, a weak one star monster. "Oh…"

"Lucky…" Shadow said.

"Yeah you lucked out. You don't have to scare us at all with that low card." Chumley walked back to the table.

"Well, I think I have a story that might do the trick," Jaden said putting the card down. "Actually, it's more of a memory. Back when I was a little kid, I used to hear sounds, but I only hear them way late at night. I think I was dreaming, but then… I heard them… they sounded like voices, but not ones that I recognized. I would go into the playroom to investigate but when I did, there was nothing there at all… except my cards."

"And…?" Syrus urged.

"And that's the end of the story." Syrus and Chumley groaned.

"Hey, at least the story fit the level." Shadow shrugged.

"That's true." Syrus agreed.

"But want to hear something strange?" Jaden asked. "Lately, I started hearing them again."

"Wow freaky my turn" Shadow said as he drew The giant Soldier of Stone a level 4 monster

**"I know just what you want to do sir" **Shade said producing a banjo

"You know me to well girl" Shadow laughed and he began to sing

(Play Ghost riders in the Sky By Marty Robbins)

Yippie-I-a, yippie-I-o

Ghost riders in the sky

An old cowpoke went ridin' out one dark and windy day

(yippie-I-a)

Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way

When all at once a mighty bunch of red eyed cows he saw

Plowin' through the ragged sky, and up a cloudy draw

Yippie-I-a, yippie-I-o

Ghost riders in the sky

Their brands were still on fire and their hoofs were made of steel

( yippie-I-a)

Their horns were black and shinny and their hot breath he could feel

A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky

He saw the riders commin' hard, and he heard their mournful cry

Yippie-I-a, yippie-I-o

Ghost riders in the sky

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred,

Their shirts all soaked with sweat. (yippie-I-a)

They're ridin' hard to catch that herd, but they aint caught 'em yet'

'Cause ya gotta ride forever on that range up in the sky,

On horses snorting fire, as they ride on, hear their cry.

Yippie-I-a, yippie-I-o

Ghost riders in the sky

As the riders went on by him, he heard one call his name

(yippie-I-a)

If you wantta to save your soul from ever ridin' on our range,

Then cowboy change your way today, or with us you will ride,

Tryin' to catch the devil's herd, across these endless skies

Yippie-I-a, yippie-I-o

Ghost riders in the sky

Ghost riders in the sky

As Shadow finished the song he noticed Syris and Chumley in their beds cowering "_heh"_ Shadow thought

"Don't worry guys it's just a song" Jaden said as Syrus climbed out of bed.

"HA–HA–HA–HA–HA! I want to get in on the fright fest!" a voice said from behind Jaden.

"GYAH!" Shadow, Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley, suddenly got scared with latter being in the corner of the wall and the former two jumping from where the sound came from. It was only Professor Banner and Pharaoh though. Shade meanwhile was laughing at how on edge everyone was.

"You… you just did," Shadow got out.

"Yeah, we're kind of on the edge of our seats here," Jaden added.

"Or at least we were," Syrus added. Chumley was back to the corner again, cowering. Everyone relaxed again. "But since you're here, why don't you draw a card. The tougher it is, the scarier your story has to be."

"Well that sounds easy enough. Let's see." Banner drew a card. It was the Five Headed Dragon!

"Level 12?! Get ready to have nightmares boys" Shadow gaped.

"I think I'm going to bed now," Syrus said immediately.

"HA–HA–HA–HA–HA! What is wrong? Don't you want to hear about the Abandoned Dorm at the end of the island?"

"Abandoned Dorm?" Everyone asked.

Banner pulled up a chair and sat down. "Yes. No one talks about it, but there was once a special dorm set at the edge of the forest. It was actually the Millennium House. It was shut down when several students mysteriously went missing."

"Where did they go?" Syrus gulped.

"Well that's the mystery of it," Banner replied. "But rumor was it had something to do with Shadow Games." Shadow flinched a bit at this.

"The Shadow Games?" Syrus asked.

"Thanks, you can stop now," Chumley pleaded from behind another table.

"You see, children, Shadow Games are duels that are played with mystical objects called the Millennium Items. Duel Monsters itself started in Ancient Egypt. The form of dueling for the Egyptians was in the Shadow Games. And if you lost, you got sent to the Shadow Realm, a mystical place that feeds on the darkness and fear of those who enter it. According to legend, Shadow Duels were very lethal and some even led to deaths."

"Come on," Jaden said dismissively. "Millennium Items, Shadow Games, this stuff can't possibly be true."

"No, it's true…" Shadow said making everyone look at him. "The Shadow Games are _very_ real…"

"Oh c'mon, they can't be." Jaden waved off. "You sound like you've experienced the Shadow Games yourself." Shadow was silent for a bit then opened his mouth to speak.

**"Sir are you sure you want to talk about that memory"** Shade questioned sounding worried

"Yes Shade they can know" Shadow said"That's because I have…" Everyone but him and Shade gasped.

"Seriously?" Syrus asked in disbelief.

"Yeah… I don't know if any of you know this, but a few years back in Domino City before I even had my Shadow Hero deck made, the Rare Hunters came back."

"Really?" Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley asked.

"They're gone now, but yeah, they were there. I'm sure you know that after Marik, leader of the original Rare Hunters was defeated by Yugi at the Battle City Finals, the Rare Hunters were disbanded. Well, a few years after the Battle City Finals, they came back as a crime organization. They called themselves the Neo Rare Hunters. They duel against random people for their rare cards. The Neo Rare Hunters had these wristbands on their wrists that somehow made a Shadow Game very possible…" He explained and then shuddered. "I… was one of their victims."

"What?!" The Slifer Reds exclaimed.

"It's true. Even though, the Shadow Game was possible, thankfully, it wasn't enough to send me to the Shadow Realm. I know this because I saw it happen to someone before it happened to me. I remember that person badly hurt because the Shadow Games make the damage real, but that person wasn't sent to the Shadow Realm. After the Neo Rare Hunter took that person's cards, one of them saw and targeted me. I ran until that one Neo Rare Hunter cornered me in an alleyway and well… beat the crap out of me. I'll never forget that day."

Flashback

_In an alleyway, a young Shadow was lying on the ground front first with his cards scattered across the ground, banged up and hurt, next to a guy who was beaten before him, with a Neo Rare Hunter standing in triumph._

_"Just as I thought, you were no match for me." The Neo Rare Hunter grinned as he deactivated his duel disk. "And I'll be taking your cards as my trophy."_

_"Hold it right there!" A voice said. The Neo Rare Hunter looked to see two people, one of them with blonde, and another with a familiar spiky hair of blonde, black, and red. It was none other than Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler!_

_"Y–Yugi Moto and J–Joey Wheeler!?" The Neo Rare Hunter said in fright._

_"This has gone far enough!" Yugi said in angry tone. "You've crossed the line this time!" Yugi said as he activated his duel disk. "Joey?"_

_"Got it. I'll take care of the kid; you just go kick that Rare Hunter's butt Yug." Joey said as he went to Shadow's side as he flipped over so that he's lying on his back and lifted him up. "Hey kid, wake up. You alright?" Joey asked. Shadow was coming to as he slowly opened his eyes._

_"J–Joey Wheeler?" Shadow got out in a raspy voice, confused._

_"The one and only. Take it easy kid. Yugi will take care of things here." Joey said. Shadow slowly turned his head and his eyes slightly widened when he saw the King of Games himself in front._

_"Yugi Moto?" Shadow got out surprised._

_"You fought bravely against this Rare Hunter." Yugi said looking over his shoulder at Shadow. "Everything's going to be alright. Just leave the rest to me."_

End Flashback

"You know the King of Games!?" Jaden exclaimed.

"Not _that_ personally… but yeah." Shadow shrugged. "After Yugi beat the crap out of the Neo Rare Hunter, Yugi and Joey got me some help. Ever since that day, every now and then, I'd visit the Game Shop and hang out with Yugi and his friends and tell me stories about their adventures."

"Wow…" Jaden said.

Pharaoh yawned. "Well, I'm glad what happened then is all over now. And with Pharaoh sleepy, I think that's my cue to get back to my room, good night, Children." Banner left out the door.

"Good night, Professor," Jaden, Shadow, and Syrus said.

"You know, I did see a scary looking building one time in the forest." Syrus said.

"Sweet," Jaden said. "Then you're going to lead us tomorrow night."

"What do you mean tomorrow night?!" Syrus exclaimed.

"What do you mean us?" Chumley threw in.

"It'll be fun," Jaden said. "We might even find out what happened to all those missing people."

"Jaden, didn't you even hear what I just said?" Shadow asked a bit angry.

"Oh relax Shadow." Jaden waved off. "If it makes you feel better, we'll be careful when we go there."

"Well, you guys can go. I'm not getting in trouble on the first year." Shadow said.

Unknown to them, Dr. Crowler heard the entire thing from outside. "This is just the opportunity I've been waiting for," he said excitedly to himself. "I think it's time the Shadow Games make a comeback, Millennium Items and all." He walked away thinking of just the person to enlist…

In a dark alleyway in Domino City, a duel was just about done with one of the participants scared out of his mind. "Okay, you win, just take whatever you want and go!"

"What I want," the metal masked man in a trench coat wearing a duel harness similar to Crowler's but the tray on his sleeve said , "Is your soul!" He held up a gold–colored upside down pyramid with a single eye at the center. It suddenly started glowing gold as the opponent protested again…

"Please show some mercy! Let me go!"

The man just looked on emotionlessly as the pyramid's light spread out. "Some mercy? What is that?" The gold light turned white as the opponent screamed and fell over, scattering the cards in his deck. "Rest in peace; in the Shadow Realm." At that point, his cell phone rang and the man opened it up. "Speak." The person on the phone spoke some details. "Duel Academy, tomorrow night… I'll be there." He hung up the phone and smirked.

"Another job?" Another person asked as he came out of the shadows. He wore a dark robe similar to what the Rare Hunters except without the eye symbol on the hood. And he wore a brass colored mask that looked like an Dragon.

"Indeed there is." The trench coat wearing man replied. "At Duel Academy tomorrow night."

"Duel Academy you say?" The second man asked then smirked. "I might actually be able to find who I'm looking for there."

The next day during class, Jaden and Syrus slept the day away as Banner was giving the lecture with Crowler peeking in to the classroom. _'This will be the last time you sleep in on class, Slifer Slacker!'_ Crowler thought. _'But you'll have your _real_ lesson_… _on the Shadow Games!'_

Later that night, as it was only about 9:00 at night and the moon was full, Crowler stood alone on the docks next to the lighthouse, waiting. After a while, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw a person in black standing a few feet away from him. It was a tall man in a black trench coat and a wide brimmed hat, Crowler looked back to the man, "So you're the one they called the Shadow Duelist?" he asked.

The tall man smirked, "My opponent's call me many things, but most of them are hard to discern through their shrieks of horror. What's the job?" he asked as a fog appeared around them.

Crowler smiled as he informed him of the work, "I want you to frighten someone so intensely, he'll leave this island and never come back!" He then provided a picture of Jaden to the man. "Are you up to the challenge?"

"Of course I am!" The shadow duelist replied. "I never turn my back on a challenge, neither does my associate…" At that point, another man came out. It was the robed man with the brass dragon–like mask.

"You can call me Drago. Now a question for you."

"Ask away." Crowler said.

"Is there or is there not a student here in Duel Academy that is named Shadow?"

"There is. Shadow Nova of Ra Yellow. Why?"

"I have something of his." Drago said. "Instead of money, I'll take a duel with this boy."

"Who am I to care what happens to a Ra Yellow student?" Crowler laughed. "Do what you wish."

"Very well." Titan said. "And we'll make sure those boys face the terror of the Shadow Realm!" The fog disappeared, taking the hired men with them. Crowler left satisfied.

Shadow sat at his desk studying, or at least attempting to. His brain couldn't help but think back onto the story Professor Banner told him and the others. While it did bring back bad and good memories, it also made him uneasy. He didn't want to be reminded of the Shadow Games. He just hoped that the rumors were false and that the Abandoned Dorm was simply… abandoned, and that Jaden and the others won't go disappearing like his dad did. The Ghost Rider and Shadow Hero Spirits saw the discomfort on his face as everyone appeared behind him, worried about their friend.

_"Shadow looks worried…"_ Darth spoke the obvious truth as he watched Shadow turn the page on a Duelist Handbook about Spell Cards.

_"Can't blame him really. The Shadow Games_ are _a touchy subject,"_ Match spoke.

_"But why mention it to begin with?"_ Slick asked. This question caused the other riders to look at him in confusion.

_"Because it was part of the scary story about the dorm?"_ Grevous asked.

_"Not only that,"_ Slick mentioned. _", but that Banner person looked to me like he knew a lot more than what he let on…"_

_"Are you sure?"_ Kratos asked.

_"In case you've forgotten, we're here to help Shadow with his studies here and look for his sis, not to find a good case and take on side jobs."_ Dark Beserker also known as Zerk said.

_"Unless those side jobs involve Alice!"_ Princess butted in.

_"Well… yes, but–"_

_"But, if these Shadow Games_ do _return we need to find out why and how we can get rid of it permanently."_ Big John added.

_"If only there was some clue to go by."_ Snowholt said.

Just then the loud ringing of Shadow's Duel Pilot caught both the Spirits and Shadow's attention. Shadow picked up the device and flipped open the lid. "Unknown?" Shadow whispered. He pressed the play button. Instead of a face, he got static for a screen, but a voice could still be heard.

_[Greetings, Shadow Nova. I am Drago.]_ The voice introduced. _[I am a rouge member of the Order of Fire. You are probably wondering why you are receiving this message. To cut to the chase, I have your missing sister.]_ All the Spirits and Shadow gasped. _[If you wish learn more, then meet me at the Abandoned Dorm tonight. Alone. I will be waiting.]_ The screen went black, showing that the message had ended.

_"Oh my…"_ Max said with concern in his voice.

_"What do we do?"_ Slick asked.

_"Isn't it obvious? We can't sit around and do nothing now that we got this message from this Drago person."_ Kratos said.

_"It sounds dangerous."_ Slick said calmly.

"You're right guys. It may be a trap," Shadow said standing up and turning to them. "And it may be dangerous. But this could be the lead we need to find sis and if she is here then…"

_"Oh great…"_ Darth groaned earning a nudge of the elbow from Match.

_"Just remember, we'll back you up on whatever you choose to do."_ Zerk said. Shadow nodded at this.

"Alright, let's do this! come on girl" Shadow said determined. The spirits of the Ghost Riders and Shadow Hero's cheered in unison as they disappeared and Shadow, with his deck and Shade in tow went out. But before he could go to his destination, he had to see Bastion first who was next door. He knocked on the door. "Bastion, open up!" He said knocking on the door. A few seconds later, Bastion opened up the door still in his uniform.

"What is it Shadow?" Bastion asked a tad bit annoyed. "I'm in the middle of solving an equation and–"

"I need your help Bastion." Shadow said. "It's really important." It took a couple of minutes for Shadow to explain what happened to his sister and what happened just now. And he even showed the message he got from Drago.

"This Drago person might have a lead about your missing sister?" Bastion gasped a bit.

"I can't say no to this Bastion. This may be the lead I'm looking for. I need you to come with me so you could be my witness. If anything should happen to me after meeting with Drago, you would be able to testify what happened."

"I see." Bastion said pondering on this for a couple of seconds before giving his answer. "Alright then, I'll go with you."

"Thanks Bastion." Shadow thanked. "When we get there, I need you to record on your Duel Pilot for evidence in case we get in trouble." Bastion nodded at this. "Alright then, let's go!" Bastion nodded and with that, the two ran off out of their dorm to the Abandoned Dorm.

The pair of Ra students continued on running in the night, running on the path through the woods that led to the Abandoned Dorm. A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination and Bastion had his Duel Pilot recording. "There it is. The Abandoned Dorm." Bastion said.

"Yeah…" Shadow said. As they got to where the 'Do Not Enter' sign was, fog started pooling through the trees. The fog was so thick that they would be able to cut it with a knife.

"Fog?" Shadow asked confused.

"That's impossible." Bastion said. "We're too far inland. Fog shouldn't reach this far." The sounds of footsteps could be heard "And someone is coming this way."

From out of the fog, a man dressed in black coat, with a brass mask of an dragon with machinery on his torso and arm came into view. It was Drago.

"You've arrived." Drago said with a dark chuckle but then grunted a tone of disappointment. "And I thought I told you to come alone."

"He's the least of your worries!" Shadow growled. "Now start talking! Where's my sister?!"

"Oh she is right here," he then held up a hooded figure and pulled back the hood. Under the hood was a 20 year old female that had brown hair. Her eyes were partly open and Shadow palled when he saw the ice blue eyes that ran in most of his family. Shadow paled even more with Drago chuckling darkly. "Do I have your attention now?"

Shadow dared to get closer so he could see the girl for himself. He knows his own family by the birthmark they all had A small line on the side of their eyes that looked for all the world that they had taken a knife to their eyes. Sure enough it was there.

"Spirit" Shadow said

"Hey bro" the girl answered

Shadow raced to embrace his sister but Drago pulled her away

"Fine what do you want" Shadow said with icy venom

"All I want is a duel You win you get your sister, I win I get you"

"Deal," Shadow frowned, earning a stunned gasp from Bastion.

"Have you gone mad?" Bastion asked with incredulity.

"I _have_ to do this Bastion." Shadow stated.

"Hold on!" Spirt said.

"What do want bitch" Drago scowled

"Instead of my bro how bout you duel me with my real deck not the crappy deck you gave me when you kidnaped me" Spirit Snapped

"Fine same rules". Drago took several steps away. He revealed his arm to show a duel disk on him to which he activated it.

"Bastion tell me you bought your disk with you" Shadow said

"I never leave without it" Bastion answered

"Give it to Spirit" Shadow said

"Will do but were is her real deck" Bastion asked

"Right here" Shadow answered holding up a deck. Shadow inserted the deck into the duel disk and tossed it to Spirit.

"Thank's Bro I think my riders are going to enjoy this

Both players drew their starting hands.

"DUEL!"

**Drago:** 4000

**Spirit**: 4000

"I shall start this duel." Drago said drawing his sixth card. "And it starts with Melchid, the Four–Face Beast in ATK mode!" A creature composed of only four masks appeared (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200). "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." He concluded placing a reverse card on the field.

"My turn! Draw!" Spirt declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Ghost Rider Japanese Oni in ATK mode!" At that point, purple flames erupted from the field for a few seconds before it dispersed to reveal a red Oni with two taiko sticks in hand's (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1650). "Oni, attack Melchid the Four–Face Beast!" Spirit commanded.

_"Yes"_ Oni said as he ran towards the four masked creature and drew his taiko sticks and setting the crystal balls on fire.

"Pathetic! Activate the Trap, Mask of Weakness!" Drago countered revealing the trap card. "This decreases one monster's ATK by 700 until the End Phase, which I will do that on Oni!" A wooden African–like mask appeared and attached to Oni's face making the latter stop his attack and tried to take off the mask to no avail.

Ghost Rider Oni (4/ATK: 1800–1100/DEF: 1650)

"No!" Spirit gasped.

"Melchid the Four–Face Beast, counterattack!" Drago ordered. The four mask creature then rotated at a high speed colliding with Oni destroying the latter into pixels.

**Drago:** 4000

**Spirit:** 3600

"And now that you lost points, it's time for you to experience losing yourself!" Drago said as he pulled out… the Millennium Rod?!

"A Millennium Item?!" the Ra Yellows gasped. The said item flashed, causing both of them to turn away from being blinded. Once it stopped, they uncovered their eyes.

"What was that about?" Shadow wondered.

Bastion gasped, catching his attention. "Shadow, your legs!"

The Shadow Hero Duelist looked down and then noticed that his legs looked like they were erased as parts of them were still there. "What the–!" Shadow said. Not only that, his body started to feel numb too. "What… did you do?!"

"I merely used the power of my Millennium Rod to make you lose part of yourself every time you lose points." Drago chuckled darkly. "Though I suppose, in this Shadow Game, life points seem very insignificant at this point."

"Shadow Game?!" Bastion gasped.

"No…" Shadow cringed. "Not again…"

"Yes…" Drago chuckled again. "And the only way to get out of it is if your sister win's, of course, if your sister losses the duel, you lose your soul and be sent to the Shadow Realm!" He laughed. "Treasure the numbness you feel inside now, for it will not last as you make your way into the chasm and void where every waking moment is filled with misery and despair!"

"Well, I'm not going to let that happen!" Spirit Shouted "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Oni!" Oni returned to the field. "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." She said as a reverse appeared on his field.

_'Good move.'_ Bastion thought. _'That way she has her Monster and her facedown to protect her.'_

"My move." Drago said as he drew his next card. "I summon the Portrait's Secret in ATK mode." A portrait of a bald bearded old man appeared, but coming out of it was a fiend of some sort appeared (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200). "And now I'll sacrifice Melchid, the Four–Face Beast and the Portrait's Secret to special summon the Masked Beast Des Gardius!" Two of his monsters disappeared and what replaced them was a massive fiend with a bone/flesh like appearance with sharp claws and three heads one each with a blue face like masks towering over Oni and the Ras (8/ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500).

"My word…" Bastion whispered bugging out at the sight of the creature.

"And now I'll have Des Gardius attack Oni again!" Drago declared. The three headed–mask creature went for Oni with its massive claws.

"I activate the trap, Negate Attack!" Spirit countered revealing the trap, "Now your attack is nullified and your Battle Phase ends immediately!"

"Hmph. You're only delaying the inevitable." Drago scoffed. "I end my turn."

"To _you_ maybe." Spirit growled as she drew her next card. "I _will_ win this duel!"

"You'll have to beat me first!" Drago countered.

"I _will_ do that! I summon Ghost Rider Snowholt in ATK mode!" A man ridding a Jet black Stallion and dressed like a cowboy came out of nowhere as the air around the field got colder (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200).

"Impressive, but it's not enough to defeat Des Gardius." Drago said.

"I know that. That's why I'll place one card face down on the field, attack you directly and equip the spell card Riders Herd to Snowholt which give him 2000 attack 1000 for each Ghost Rider on the field." Spirit finished placing the last two cards from her hand to the field. (4/ ATK:800- 2800/DEF: 1200)

**Drago:** 1200

**Spirit:** 3600

"It's my turn now, and I draw." Drago said drawing his card. "I play the Equip Spell, Mask of Brutality!" Drago said playing the spell card. "This lets my Monsters gain 1000 ATK and lower its DEF by 1000! And I'll equip to Des Gardius!" A mask with sharp claws for its eyes and sharp teeth attached the middle face of the three headed mask creature and glowed with power.

Masked Beast Des Gardius (8/ATK: 3300–4300/DEF: 2500–1500)

"Not good. Spirit will lose a chunk of her life points." Bastion said to himself with worry.

"Now Des Gardius attack Ghost Rider Snowholt!" Drago ordered. Des Gardius tried to attack again, but the target this time is Snowholt.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap, Rider Intervention!" Spirit declared revealing her trap which depicted Ghost Rider Snowholt and an unknown rider shooting up an enemy. "When a Ghost Rider is selected as an attack target, I select one other Ghost Rider on your side of the field. The attacked monster gains ATK equal to the selected monster's ATK until the End of the Battle Phase."

"What?!" Drago growled.

"Good show!" Bastion cheered.

"I select Ghost Rider Oni's to be given to Snowholt's!" Spirit said. Oni glowed and transferred its power to Snowholt.

Ghost Rider Snowholt (4/ATK: 2800–4600/DEF: 1200)

"Counterattack!" Spirit declared.

**Drago:** 900

**Spirit:** 3600

When the smoke cleared, they saw that Drago lost a part of his arm where he held his cards, a piece of his leg, and a piece of his stomach.

"He's disappearing too!" Bastion noticed.

"No matter… I will still win this duel!" Drago said. "I have to thank you for destroying Des Gardius."

"Why's that?" Spirit asked confused.

"Look." Drago said as the smoke cleared out more. On the ground, the three masks that Des Gardius had were left behind. "You see, when Des Gardius is destroyed, it leaves behind its three masks. And when that happens, they reform into the Mask of Remnants!" The three masks then formed into one mask that in appearance had one eye with a mouth of sharp teeth with flesh covering the other eye and horns sticking out. "It then attaches to one of your Monsters and I take control of it!" The mask then turned around and stuck on to Snowholt who tried to take it off to no avail and suddenly went over to Drago's side of the field.

"Give back Snowy!" Spirit demanded.

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Drago said. "And now since I have a Monster to attack with, I'll have Snowholt attack Oni!" Drago ordered. Decade did the same thing he did to Des Gardius and Oni was destroyed into pixels.

**Drago:** 900

**Spirit:** 2600

"Time for you to lose more of your whole being!" Drago said as he held his Millennium Item and shined the light on him blinding the Ras and when the light faded, Shadow noticed that he started to lose some of his stomach and his body was struggling to stay up on the ground as he now fell on one knee and panting. "Hahahaha! How does it feel Shadow? To be consumed by the darkness?" He laughed.

"Shut up!" Shadow snapped.

"You should give up and come with me. If you do, I might spare you from being sent to the Shadow Realm." Drago offered.

"What makes you think I'll agree to that?" Shadow asked as he struggled getting up. "Plus I'll never give up! you won't have me or my bro" Spirit drew her lone card. "I play Card of Sanctity! This lets us both draw until we have six cards!" Both drew until they had six. _'Not good. My hand's too weak against Snowy.'_ She then looked at his sixth card. _'Maybe this could help more.'_ "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more!" Spirit drew two cards. _'This is…!'_

_'Alright then, I'm just gonna have to hold out on Drago's turn.'_ "I end my turn!" Spirit declared.

"Is she serious?" Bastion gasped. "There's no other cards she can play?"

"It seems you have finally run out of options." Drago said as he drew his next card. "I activate the Ritual Spell, Curse of the Masked Beast!" Drago said as he played his spell and a demonic like cauldron with blue fire came out. "I tribute Dark Jeroid and Newdoria whose total levels add up to 8, so I can Ritual Summon The Masked Beast!" The two monsters in question went into the cauldron and a tower of blue fire erupted and when that happened, the cauldron broke into pieces to reveal a fiendish centaur with a red mask and many masks over its lower region and legs with a fiendish tail holding a scepter (8/ATK: 3200/DEF: 1800). "And then I'll activate the Spell, Lightning Vortex!"

"Oh no!" The Ras gasped.

"That's right. I discard one card from my hand and I destroy all Monsters on your side of the field!" Orpheus said as he discarded one card and a vortex of electricity appeared sucking in the vampire Kamen Rider, destroying him into pixels. "And now, that you're wide open, I can wage a direct attack on your life points! Go Snowholt and Masked Beast, send him to the Shadow Realm!" the possessed Snowholt started shooting up Spirit. The Masked Beast then raised his scepter and fired a huge beam.

"Shadow!" Bastion cried out.

"Activate Trap! Nutrient Z!" Spirit declared revealing her trap card. "If I take 2000 or more points of Damage, I get a 4000 point boost before subtracting!" A vile of liquid appeared, Spirit opened it and drank the contents before throwing it away.

**Drago:** 900

**Spirit:** 6600

The beam Masked Beast made hit first making Spirit block it with her duel disk and the possessed Snowholt shot her knocking Spirit and Shadow down to the ground and rolling on the ground before stopping.

**Drago:** 900

**Spirit:** 1600

"Shadow! Are you alright?!" Bastion asked with concern.

"With 1600 life points, he is not!" Drago shouted as he pointed the Millennium Rod at the Shadow Hero duelist. "His body is nearly gone!" The light from the item flashed onto Shadow's body, and soon Shadow's body was left with his head, hands, and feet. "You cannot hope to recover from the onslaught I have dealt!"

Shadow tried to move, but he found himself stuck to the ground somehow. "I… can't… move…" He uttered as his vision got blurry. _'Damn it… I can't believe this is how it's going to end… I'm sorry, sis I could not save you…'_ and then soon his eyes grew heavy and closed completely.

'Oi, oi, oi, oi! Shadow, get your ass up!' _Kratos said._

_Shadow woke up to find an image of Kratos._ 'Kratos? I'm not imagining things am I?'

'No, but I can tell ya _what_ you're imagining!' _Kratos took Shadow's head and made him look in front of him, causing pain to the guy._

'Ow!' _Shadow said. But then he found a faint light coming from Kratos's sword and it pushed back the shadows. Shadow started to see the forest as clear as when he first came in._

'See it _now_?' _Kratos asked._

'Yeah, I see it!' _Shadow thought. 'This isn't a Shadow Game! And that Millennium Item he's got isn't real either!'_

Shadow slowly got back up on his feet and said while opening his eyes looking at Drago. "I've got this Shadow Game scam figured out!"

"What? Shadow Game scam?" Bastion wondered.

_'What is going on? He should be feeling scared right now.'_ Drago thought.

"What do you mean by that?" Bastion asked.

"It means my soul's not going anywhere! And to prove it…" Shadow said as he looked around and picked up a sharp stick and threw it at the Millennium which cracked easily. Shadow and Drago got their bodies back at that point.

"NO!" Drago yelled. "What have you done?!"

"Your body's back!" Bastion exclaimed.

"Never lost it." Shadow said. "Just nothing but a bunch of smoke and mirrors to make me think I'm losing my soul. Drago is nothing but a big fake!"

"Screw it…" Drago scoffed, "So what if everything's fake? At least I get paid well doing this job! And you forget you're sister is up the creek without a paddle! No cards on her field and only 1600 life points while I have her monster and one of my own! You can't win!"

"He's right," Bastion stated, "It would take no less than a miracle to win now!"

_'Then let's_ make that _miracle,'_ Spirit thought, preparing to draw. "Draw!" She said, drew, and then looked at it.

"YOU ARE DONE FOR DRAG BUTT!"

"What?!" Drago roared.

"First I play the card I drew! Dark Hole!"

"NO!" Drago yelled in horror.

"That's right. Which means all your monsters are now gone!" A black hole suddenly opened up from the ground and then sucked the two Monsters in never to return. "Next I play Monster Reborn to bring back Ghost Rider Oni!" Oni returned to the field.

_"Thanks for bringing me back Mistress."_ Oni thanked.

"You're welcome." She said before turning back to Drago.

"Great Scott!" Bastion gasped as Oni took his Tako sticks and slashed Drago.

**Drago:** 0

**Spirit:** 600

The duel disks deactivated and the holograms faded.

"Good show Miss Spirit! You won!" Bastion cheered.

"Thanks. You got all of that?"

"Yes I did."

"Good. Lets go. I have some catching up to do with my bro" Bastion then took time to help his fellow Ra up and slowly walk him and his sister back to the dorm


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Duel and Unusual Punishment

It was really early in the morning, and the sun wasn't up, but someone was: Zane Truesdale. The Kaiser of Duel Academy. He was standing alone near the lighthouse, staring at the sea. Later, he was joined by Alexis.

"Zane?" The boy Obelisk never turned around, but he recognized that the voice was Alexis Rhodes. "What are doing out here?"

"Nothing. Just felt like being alone." He replied. Alexis stood next to him.

"You know, with your little brother enrolled here, I thought you'd be less alone, not more." Alexis said.

"Well, that's because he doesn't belong here." He stated bluntly.

Later on, the sun was up and a truck filled with soldiers pulled up to the Slifer dorm. Professor Banner exited his room, "Who is playing war at this time of day?" He wondered. He looked up to see the soldiers rapidly ascending the steps. "Oh no, it's the Disciplinary Action Squad! They only show up when a student is in serious trouble, and they're heading right for Jaden's room!"

Inside the room in question, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were snoozing away mainly because it was the weekend. Unfortunately, it was cut short by a forceful knock on the door waking Jaden up.

"Open this door right now or we'll break it open!"

Jaden opened his eyes and sat up in bed as a loud knocking came from his door. Yawning, he walked over, "Oh really, you and what army?"

"The Disciplinary Action Squad Army!" Jaden opened the door and was surprised to see a large group of people in dark uniforms standing outside his dorm room. The woman looked him over, "You must be Jaden Yuki…"

"Uh…yeah… so what's going on?"

Ignoring the question, she looked over his shoulder to one of the sleeping roommates. She frowned as she caught sight of the light blue hair, "I take it that's Syrus Truesdale?" she asked.

Jaden nodded, "Yeah… so who are you guys, and why are you here?"

The woman looked down at him as Syrus climbed out of bed and walked over. "As I said, we are the Disciplinary Action Squad and you two are under campus arrest!"

"Arrest?" Jaden raised an eyebrow, "What did we do?"

"That will be made clear to you at the interrogation," she informed them, "Now get dressed!"

At the Ra Yellow dorm, Shadow woke up and was getting dressed. Today he wore a black shirt with the gold logo saying AZ. He was feeling better today too. After getting his sister back, it certainly got his spirit back up and it put him back in the good mood.

_"Ready for another day Shadow?"_ Slick asked as he appeared. _"Don't forget to wear a new pair of underwear."_

"Of course Slick." Shadow replied rolling his eyes.

_"Don't forget to eat nutritious food."_ Maxwell told him as he appeared in the room.

"Okay."

He then heard a knock on the door. The Hero's disappeared as Shadow walked over to the door. When he opened it though, he bugged out when he saw the numerous people in Dark green uniforms standing at his door with his sister Spirit in tow .

_'And the morning just got worse.'_ Shadow thought. Out loud, "Uh… can I help you?"

"We are the Disciplinary Action Squad," the man at the front answered. "Are you Shadow Nova?"

"Yes, I am. What's going on?"

"We are taking you under campus arrest."

Shadow sighed at this. "Huh… I knew this was going to happen…" He muttered to himself, out loud, "Alright then come on Shade, lead the way."

With that, the guards escorted Shadow,Shade and Spirit out of the building, loaded them onto a nearby truck, and was shipped off to the Duel Academy building. After arriving, they walked near the interrogation room inside the school and there Shadow saw Syrus and Jaden with the latter two being surprised.

"Shadow?!" The Slifers gaped.

"Got caught huh?" Shadow asked.

"We should be asking you that!" Syrus said.

"You were at the Abandoned Dorm too?" Jaden asked.

"Long story, I'll tell when we get in there." Shadow said.

"SUSPENDED?!" the Slifer cried out. Shadow was the only one not surprised, because he had a good reason why he was at the Abandoned Dorm. The two Slifers, Ra, Spirit and Shade were now standing in a dark, large, circular room with the light shining on them and three giant TV screens above them, each one with a different person on them. The three were Dr. Crowler, Chancellor Sheppard, and the woman from the D.A.S.

"That's what I suggest." the D.A.S. woman replied, "You three have trespassed into the Abandoned Dorm in the woods, which is strictly forbidden, and we have received an anonymous letter from a faculty member to back it up. You three must be punished to make an example for all the students!"

"Hold on! How would that faculty member know that anyone was out there?"Shadow growled. "If that member knew, then they wouldn't be in a position to stop anyone!"

"That's not the point!"

"That's _exactly_ the point!" Shadow countered. "Ever since the start of school, someone is deliberately trying to humiliate and expel Jaden with Syrus and me somehow being caught in the crossfire!" The faculty members gasped with Crowler sweating for some reason.

"Do you have any evidence of this?" Chancellor Sheppard frowned after hearing this accusation.

"A couple of them, actually." Shadow said.

"Alright, let's hear it then." Chancellor Sheppard said.

"Chancellor!" Crowler protested.

"Dr. Crowler, these boys have a right to explain themselves. And I will give them that right." Chancellor Sheppard frowned before turning his eyes back to Shadow. "Now then, Mr. Nova, you were saying?"

"Yes. Well, during the first days of school. A love letter was given to Syrus supposedly written by Alexis Rhodes. Being suspicious, Syrus and I confronted her about it. It turns out it was a forgery asking for Jaden to come to the Girls' Dorm at night."

"A love letter for me?" Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.

"But that's grounds for immediate expulsion!" The head of the D.A.S snapped.

"Let him finish." Sheppard said the head of the D.A.S. "Continue Mr. Nova."

Shadow nodded. "Now here's the kicker. Syrus and I decided to spring the trap for whoever wanted to expel Jaden. We went there at night and when we did, I notice that the lock to the back of the Girls Dorm' was already broken, most likely by bolt cutters. And then when we got caught by the girls and confronted Alexis about the letter, she told Syrus and I that it wasn't her handwriting, her name was spelled wrong, and it was addressed to Jaden Yuki."

"Hmm… sounds like something more serious than a prank," Sheppard frowned.

"Next were the Promotional Exams. I don't if you all knew it already, but the rare cards that were shipped to Duel Academy that day were all bought by one person. But since the store opened as soon as the test ended, no one should've gotten them before everyone else, unless they decide to skip the Written Part of the exam. After that, that person who bought up all those rare cards gave them all to Chazz for him to use against Jaden at the Field Part of the exam."

"Wow… someone really has it in for me huh." Jaden said.

"Hmm… sounds really suspicious." Sheppard said as Crowler started to really sweat and gulp in nervousness.

"And finally, didn't any of you ask why we were at the Abandoned Dorm?" Shadow asked.

"Well… no." The Head of the D.A.S. said. "We only received the notice from the anonymous faculty member that you three were there."

"Who cares what your reasons are!" Crowler yelled. "The fact remains that you broke the rules and you should be punished accordingly!"

"I/HE HAD A DAMN GOOD REASON WHY I/HE WAS AT THE ABANDONED DORM!" Shadow and Spirit yelled at Crowler.

"Oh really… this oughta be good…" Crowler rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Crowler…" Chancellor Sheppard said sternly before turning his eyes back to Shadow. "Now Mr. Nova, why were you at the Abandoned Dorm?"

"I…" Shadow said now calming down. "I got a message on my Duel Pilot… from a person named Drago… he claimed he had Spirit my Sister who disappeared three years ago…" Shadow said with his voice trembling. Everyone except Shade and Spirit present gasped at this.

"Your sister?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes. I was a card designer for Industrial Illusions. I was the one who created my brothers Shadow Hero and My Ghost Rider deck. The day before I was to present the deck to Pegasus… I was kidnapped. Drago claimed to have me." Spirit said

"I have the message here on my Duel Pilot." Shadow said as he pulled it out of his pocket and played out the message.

_[Greetings, Shadow Nova. I am Drago. I am a rouge member of the Order of Fire. You are probably wondering why you are receiving this message. To cut to the chase, I have your missing sister. If you wish learn more, then meet me at the Abandoned Dorm tonight. Alone. I will be waiting.]_

"And _did_ you go?" Sheppard asked.

"I _had_ to. I brought Bastion along with me in case, something like this interrogation we're having now happens. He has the evidence recorded on his Duel Pilot. Bastion and I were at the entrance of the Abandoned Dorm and Drago was there. He had Spirit With and Drago dueled and she won getting me my sister back."

"I see…" Sheppard said.

"I'm sorry Chancellor, it's just… I couldn't say no to something like that… I just couldn't…" Shadow turned his head away, eyes closed, and clenching his fist while his body trembled.

"Calm down Mr. Nova," Sheppard frowned in sympathy. "Take a moment to take a breath."

"I don't like the sounds of this," the head of the D.A.S. frowned. "From the evidence alone it seems that somebody is working very hard to get Jaden expelled and isn't very picky about who gets caught in the crossfire."

"Obviously some schoolchild's idea of a prank," Crowler commented with a huff.

"It doesn't paint a good picture," Sheppard agreed. Sighing, he looked to Jaden and Syrus. "Mr. Yuki. Mr. Truesdale, since Mr. Nova has explained himself, how about you two? Why were you two at the dorm?"

"Well… at first, Syrus, Chumley, and I just went to check it out," Jaden said. "But then… we heard someone scream. We went down below the dorm in this cave, and we saw this guy in a trench coat with a hat and a silver mask and he had Alexis with him as his hostage." Everyone but Crowler who was sweating nervously, gasped.

"Miss Rhodes? What was she doing there?" Sheppard asked.

"Well, she told us that her brother was one of the people that went missing in the Abandoned Dorm, so she goes there praying there every night." Syrus said.

"And then… that silver masked guy then somehow kidnapped Alexis and we had to go save her from him." Jaden said.

"Preposterous!" Crowler snapped. "Miss Rhodes is one of my finest students! No way would she risk the rules to just put a rose down someplace!" The head of the D.A.S. snapped a glare at Crowler and even Sheppard sent a stern look at the man, but it seemed that Crowler's arrogance and/or vanity made sure he didn't notice their looks.

_'I'd like to see you say that if_ you're _missing a relative,'_ Shadow and Spirit Thought at the same time.

"It's true!" Syrus insisted. "Jaden had to duel him and everything!"

"A duel?" Sheppard blinked. "You dueled him there?"

"I won too!" Jaden grinned. "I gotta tell you, he had some awesome tricks to make me think it was a real Shadow Game. He even made the room look like it was begin swallowed in darkness and little blob monsters were attacking us!"

"I… see," Sheppard blinked, looking alarmed about something. "In any case our databases could track down if such a duel happened, although we'd need details about how the duel went from you Jaden."

"Sure! I'll give you a blow by blow!" the Slifer grinned.

And so, Jaden took the time to tell the people every card they drew, every move they made, the stats in terms in life points, the monsters they summoned, the spell and traps they set and/or activated. Every nook and cranny of the duel he could remember. He even recalled some of the poses he made and how grim and spooky Titan was just for dramatic effect. Crowler was gritting his teeth by the end of it, not liking to hear how his duel assassin was beaten by a boy who by all means should have been one of the worst students in the school just like all of the other Slifers.

"Well… that's… good acting," Sheppard chuckled as Jaden wrapped up his commentary. "Makes me sad I missed it. That should be enough data for us to sift through any duels made in the last twenty–four to forty–eight hours. In the meantime, you three are on probation until we conclude our investigation so try not to get in any more trouble will you?"

"I have my eye on all of you," the head of the D.A.S agreed.

"Hmph!" Crowler snorted.

"And Shadow…" Sheppard said with the duelist in question looking up. "I'll see if I can get some information on this Order of Fire."

"You will?" Shadow gasped a bit.

"Of course. You have my word that I will do everything in my power until it is found."

"…Thank you…" Shadow nodded with a small grateful smile.

The three screens then winked out.

Meanwhile, Crowler was pacing around his office like a tiger in a cage figuring out of what to do. _'That Slifer Slacker Jaden has made a fool out of me for the last time! And that Shadow Hero Ra Reject Shadow almost exposed me! It looks like I'll have to take things into my own hands…'_ He thought, he then picked up the phone and dialed a number. He was waiting for a few seconds until… "Yes. Get me Seto Kaiba on the line."

Seto Kaiba was not by a nature a very social person. He couldn't afford to be. Being left behind in an orphanage with his brother after their parents died and relatives squandered the inheritance that was supposed to be for raising them made him very protective of his little brother and making sure he was okay didn't leave room for friends. Being raised by that cold–hearted monster Gozaburo Kaiba hadn't helped his people skills either. Running his own game company and then running into numerous nutcases who wanted to rule the world just made it worse since half of them would go after his brother.

Meeting and competing against Yugi and Atem helped him recover from that though, recovering a side of honor and trust that he hadn't exercised in a very long time. Perhaps that was what pushed him to create his Duel Academy after his successful venture into Kaiba Land.

And then there were the headaches that made him regret it.

Dealing with some paperwork Kaiba heard his line ring. Frowning, he pressed the receive button from he spoke, "Who is it?"

_"Mr. Kaiba, a Professor Crowler from Duel Academy wishes to speak with you."_

_'Crowler,'_ Kaiba sighed inwardly. He couldn't fault the man's tactical mind and knowledge on the game which made him an asset to his Duel Academy. The problem was the man was an elitist and loved to crush people who were 'below' him under his heel. He had been one of the most vocal about creating the three dormitories when the students of Obelisk Blue were 'obviously' the most deserving of tuition.

"Put him on Roland," The brunette CEO reluctantly spoke. _'No doubt he's going to complain about the influx of slackers and rejects again.'_ "What is it this time Crowler? Here to complain about slackers and rejects again?"

Kaiba severely disliked Crowler's attitude towards the Slifer and Ra students. Granted there were some people Kaiba was sure just shouldn't pick up a deck or Duel Disk, but that was what the academy examinations were for. They culled out the people who shouldn't be part of the dueling world and cultivated those who did or had the potential to become part of it. Kaiba knew the value of luck, hard work, and talent. He had to use all three to get to where he was in life. Crowler seemed to think only people with talent should be accepted and could make themselves into legends rather than people who could go on and live 'simple' lives of dueling on pro circuits or what not.

_"This isn't my weekly report about trying to get you to see reason!"_ Crowler cried back over the phone. _"I'm reporting in on a trio of delinquents who need to be punished before they end up giving our school a bad name!"_

_'Likely students who proved capable of beating his precious rich and stocked Obelisks or made Crowler look bad again,'_ Kaiba frowned. While not many knew it, Kaiba kept many eyes on his school thanks to some of the sensitive material there. He knew very well that many of the Obelisk students were only where they were because of connections with staff or people in the higher ups or because of the money that had to buy rare cards to stuff their decks with. It wasn't exactly the legacy of Obelisk Blue he wanted, but the students that truly stood out from that crop certainly made up for it.

"Who is it _this_ time?" He asked with a bored tone in his voice.

_"A trio of hardcore delinquents named Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, and Shadow Nova!"_ Crowler's voice rang out before going into his own renditions of the events in the new school year.

Kaiba was of course aware of the new names. After all, his people in the Academy had brought them to his attention numerous times. Jaden Yuki was quickly rising through the ranks of Slifer Red and should have been a Ra Yellow by now had he not turned down his promotion. His Elemental Hero deck was a difficult archetype to use, but the young man was proving incredibly capable with it. He had beaten Crowler himself, the teacher using his own deck and even the man's prized student Chazz Princeton. After a performance that he should have been in Ra Yellow or just at the bottom of Obelisk Blue but his grades prevented it. A pity.

Syrus Truesdale was less known, only brought to Kaiba's attention due to his relation with the top student in Duel Academy, Zane Truesdale. Kaiba merely took note of him simply out of his potential. The downside was that the boy had an awful case of stage fright and a severe lack of confidence, likely brought on by people comparing him to his brother for so many years. His friendship with Jaden was possibly what the boy needed to come out of his shell.

Then there was Shadow Nova, who was another new face out for potential. He landed in Ra Yellow, showing he was on his way up. What made him interesting though was that his deck was filled with the new archetype which his sister never had the chance to complete. Pegasus likely made them into real cards to honor the Girl and gave them to her Brother. Kaiba was interested in how the archetype worked and so kept an eye on the Ra Yellow to see if his potential would develop with the cards he had.

"And what makes them delinquents all of a sudden?"

Crowler went off onto a rant detailing event of the school year, of course changing the facts slightly to make it look like the three were thumbing their nose at authority to do whatever it was that they wanted. Kaiba of course could already tell that the stories were complete B.S. He was used to people trying to lie to him either completely or in fractions and he could tell that Crowler was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. If he took some of the details to Crowler's stories, he guess that the three boys were likely getting themselves into situations by accident or through Crowler's manipulations to make them look bad and put Obelisk students back onto their personal high pedestals.

_"I'm telling you we have to do something about this!"_ Crowler cried out over the phone.

"Not my problem."

_"What?!"_

"I'll cut to the chase Crowler. Your accusations are B.S. I've got a company to run and things to do. You want something done? Do it yourself. Don't come crying to me when Chancellor Sheppard fires you. Goodbye."

_"Now wait just a–!"_ *CLICK*

"Ughhh… I really need a vacation." Kaiba sighed as he leaned back in chair. Just then, the door opened up in his office to reveal a young, beautiful woman with pale white skin, long light white–blue hair, and bright blue eyes wearing a white skirt version of a business suit.

"Everything okay?" The woman asked as he walked over to Seto.

"I'm fine Kisara. Just stressed out." Kaiba sighed. She then walked around his desk, stopped at behind his chair and wrapped her arms around his chest.

"I know how I can help relieve that stress." Kisara said as she kissed Kaiba's cheek.

"And that is?" Kaiba asked raising an eyebrow looking at her.

"_You_ know what I'm talking about." She smirked seductively.

A similar smirk appeared on Kaiba's he turned his head around to kiss Kisara, but stopped when the door slammed open. Kisara jumped a bit away from him, and pressed her dress down to look professional. Mokuba Kaiba walked into the room and with papers in his hands. "Hey Seto!" he greeted. "Pegasus wanted to talk to you."

"He could've done that over the phone," Kaiba frowned.

"He wants to meet in person. To talk about making some more cards and to help distribute more Kaiba Corp. stuff all around the world." Kaiba rubbed his temples and sighed.

"Fine. Tell him I'll be there in a few hours." Mokuba nodded and left the room. Kaiba then turned to Kisara who was looking at him. "Now where were we?"

Back at Duel Academy, Crowler slammed the phone on the desk. "So even the great Seto Kaiba won't help me." Crowler growled. "Fine, I'll just do things myself, just like he said."

Shadow was walking around campus at a subdued pace. "I'm glad I got out of that one," Shadow muttered. "If I didn't have evidence Jaden, Sy, and I would have been in some deep shi–"

_"Shadow! Language!"_ Slick said as he appeared next to him. _"We taught you better than that. Where did you hear that from anyway?"_

"Blame Kratos."

_"Should've known,"_ Slick sighed. _"Although that little incident, although bad, has brought in some good things for us as well."_

"Such as?"

_"We now have more help finding out who the Order of Fire is. Chancellor Sheppard seems like a nice man,"_ Darth said as he appeared.

"Hopefully they'll come up with something that we haven't seen yet," Shadow sighed. He then heard his stomach growl. "I should go get some food."

_"Do you think you can ask the chefs in your dorm to let you cook?"_ Maxwell asked as he appeared. _"While their food is good, it's not always so nutritious."_

"I can ask, but we'll have to see."

He made his way towards the kitchen that's connected to the cafeteria, so the chefs would give out the food when a line was made. Luckily, there was no one there, but the chefs. He went to the side where the chefs entered, knocked on the door, and a chef put his head out and looked at Shadow carefully.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Hey… uh… do you mind if I use your kitchens for a while?" The chef frowned.

"What for?"

"Um… I want to make something for lunch."

"And what is wrong with our dishes?"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong with them! It's just that my… uh… caretaker of sorts wants me to practice my cooking some bit." The chef seemed to glare at him before nodding him in. "Thank you."

"Just don't make a mess." The chef said. When the chef left.

"Alright…"

And so, Maxwell started guiding him in his cooking. He were telling him to make a meat and vegetable stew. A rather rich one with from the ingredients Max was telling him to get. And by the looks of it, he was making good progress on it. "Hey Shadow!" A voice called. He looked up to see Jade, Spirit and Alexis coming up to him. "We heard you were taken in by the D.A.S. are you okay? And what are you doing in the kitchen?" Jade asked.

"To answer the second question, I'm cooking something for lunch. As for your first, I'm fine," Shadow replied as he put some carrots and beef cubes into the stew. "They took Jaden, Sy and me in for questioning."

"What? Why?" Alexis asked.

"Because all of us were found at the Abandoned dorm. Luckily, Chancellor Sheppard was willing to listen to our side of the story first. So we're not being expelled, so far we're just being put on probation." Shadow put some more spices and stirred the stew with the ladle. He took a sip. "Needs more salt."

_"Just a pinch,"_ Maxwell told him_"Add a bit of basil too."_ .

"Got it," Shadow replied as he put the ingredients in.

"OOH! Are you helping Maxwell cook?" Jade and Spirit asked excitedly. "You gonna give us a plate?"

"Of course."

Several minutes later… Shadow made four bowls stew. One for him and the Three girls. Once he got them done, the four of them were talking about what happened in the interrogation. "And Chancellor Sheppard said that he was gonna help me find out who the Order of Fire ." Shadow said before taking another spoonful of his stew.

"That's great!" Jade said happy for him.

"Yeah. I'm glad to stay. The only bad thing about that interrogation was what Crowler said about _you_ Alexis."

"What did he say?" Alexis asked.

"I'm just paraphrasing this but he stated that you would rather follow the rules than visiting the last place where your brother was seen." Alexis and Jade frowned.

"It's fine. Just don't do anything to get yourself into trouble." Alexis then had a spoonful of stew and her eyes widened. "This tastes amazing!"

"I know right? I swear each time he listens to the one Duel Spirit who actually know how to cook, he comes out with these things! Even _I_ needed help from Maxwell with my cooking." Jade smiled. When they had finished eating, the D.A.S. burst through the doors of the Ra dorm a second time that day.

"Shadow Nova, would come with us please?" the leader asked him, although this time she had a frown on her face.

"What for?" both Alexis, Spirit, and Jade asked at the same time.

"Dr. Crowler wants you."

"Oh damn… what's he want now?"

At the Chancellor's office…

"WE'RE STILL GONNA BE EXPELLED?!" Shadow, Jaden, and Syrus, asked in shock.

"Yes," Crowler smiled. "It seems that the Academy Board of Directors are rather displeased with the little amount of anarchy you three have put up. So they decided to expel you." Three boys turned to the man who shook his head.

"Sorry, my hands are tied," Shepard apologized. Crowler smiled even wider.

"What about the evidence?!" Shadow demanded.

"Ah yes, about that. It turns out the evidence you gave us was legitimate."

"But we're still going through expulsion?!"

That made Crowler lose his smile. "Well, not really."

"Huh?" Jaden and Syrus asked confused.

"Due to the evidence, you were saved from immediate expulsion."

"Instead, they decided to test you," Sheppard answered for Crowler. "You three will have to duel for your right to stay here in Duel Academy. Win and you stay, lose and your expelled." The chancellor turned towards the two Slifers. "Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale will tag duel since they were together." He then turned to Shadow, "You, Shadow Nova, will be in an 8000 point duel, with the same stipulations. As of now, you three are off probation."

"Sweet! A tag duel!" Jaden said excited.

"I was given the opportunity to choose who your opponents are going to be Slifer Slackers but Shadow Get to have an opponent of his choice," Crowler informed them with venom as he explained the last part. "However I't has to be some one from your family, You have three days to prepare. Make it count."

Later on…

"What the heck?! Despite the evidence, we're still going through expulsion!" Shadow said angrily walking to his dorm.

_"You should've given Crowler an ass kicking then and there."_ Kratos said as he appeared.

"I would have been _expelled_ right then and there Kratos," Shadow replied. "But we have three days, to get ready and choose our opponents."

_"How will we prepare?"_ Patch asked.

"We'll need some practice." Shadow walked for a while longer until he arrived at the front of the Yellow Dorm and where Alexis and Jade were waiting as the spirits disappeared. "Hey girls."

"Hey. So what did they want?" Jade asked.

"Well, believe it or not, I'm still gonna be expelled."

"WHAT?!" The girls asked shocked.

"I know, it's unfair. The evidence Jaden, Syrus, and I we gave however, was enough to save us from immediate expulsion. Now, we're given the chance to duel in order to win our stay here. Jaden and Syrus will be in a tag duel and I'm dueling alone. And Crowler is gonna be the one to pick Jaden's and Syrus opponents."

"That's not good," Alexis stated. "Dr. Crowler will probably choose one of the toughest people for you to duel."

"Yeah. He'll probably choose one of the higher up students," Jade agreed. "Or worse yet, someone from the outside."

"I know that," Shadow sighed.

"Hey what about you. Who are you dueling?" Spirit asked as she turned up

"A member of our family so either Dad or Mum cause both of us know what happens when we duel I win. That's why I'm going to prepare by having some practice duels. I wonder if Bastion's up for it."

"Hey! Are we not good enough for you to duel?" Jade pouted. Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"You want to duel me?"

"Good point"

Shadow smiled at her. Suddenly someone said "How bout one of us?"

Every one turned around to see a tall man with short black hair wearing a pair of sweats and army boots along side a shorter female with a blue dress on. Both Shadow and Shade were shocked as they said.

"Mum? Dad?"

"That is right Soldier we heard what was going on from Private Shepperd so we came here to see if we can prevent you from Getting Expelled" The man said

"Oh be quite Mystic You know they are not soldiers' Said the female

"Oh alright Demi" Mystic said

"Anyway we came to talk to Dr Crowler about saying that you should not have to duel To stay in the school and also see if we can apply for jobs around the school" Demi smiled as Shadow and Spirit looked shocked when she said that.

"Now that I think about it I think there is a position as a drama Teacher, English Teacher, and Gym Teacher available sir" Alexis said nervously

"Hmm and your name is Alexis Rhodes am I right?" Mystic Asked

"Yes Sir" Alexis said

"Thank you for dueling my boy When he came to confront you about that letter" Mystic smiled

"Your Welcome Sir. But how did you know about that?" Alexis Questioned

**"Sorry miss alexis but my systems were recording the duel between my master and you and i sent the duel To masters Parents for a laugh"** Shade said

" aww that is ok Shade but i kinda feel nervous right now for if Shadow ever Moves up to blue" Alexis said looking at Shadow who laughed

"1. Shade Stays in my room every night Going out on her own every now and then I don't Have anything to do with that. 2 If what you are thinking of did happen it would more than likely be Shade Forgetting to turn off her camera. and 3. There is no girl that I know of that would allow A robo dino into their dorm room if her eyes were glowing" Shadow listed and then said "Anyways, let's check out what Jaden and Syrus are doing. I bet they're probably practicing for their tag duel now."

Meanwhile…

Chumley was standing out on the edge of a cliff where the waves crashed onto the rocks, but his attention was not at the ocean, his attention, was below the cliff. There was a small beach and looking down, Jaden and Syrus were there ready to start a duel. "Ok guys, remember, this is just a practice duel for your upcoming tag–team match, so go easy!" He called out to them. Jaden had a large smile on his face while Syrus looked like was about to wet his pants, if the waves nearby didn't do that for him first. "Of course, I don't think Jaden _knows_ how to go easy…"

"That's probably a good thing…" A voice said. Chumley turned around to see Alexis, Shadow, and Jade walking towards him and looking down at Jaden and Syrus.

"Hey guys, you're just about to see Jaden and Syrus duel. And what do you mean by that?" Chumley asked.

"I mean I know Dr. Crowler and he's not going to be matching them up, with any pushovers. Both Jaden and Syrus need to be at their best, because if they're not, they'll both be expelled…

"Well, judging by the look of Syrus, I'd say he thinks otherwise…" Shadow said. "But you're right, they need to be at their best."

"Alright Syrus…" Jaden inserted his deck and waved towards his friend. "Get your game on buddy and let's have some fun!"

Syrus sighed. "Yeah… fun… sure. Might as well squeeze some fun before we fail and get kicked out of here…"

"Uh…what was that?"

"Oh… uh, nothing!"

"Then, let's duel!"

Again, he sighed, "Yeah yeah… let's duel…" Both players drew their starting hand.

**Jaden:** 4000

**Syrus:** 4000

"Here I come, Syrus!" Jaden said as he drew his sixth card. "Sweet… I summon Elemental Hero Avian in ATK Mode!" He said as his winged warrior appeared in front of him. (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) "And then I'll throw down a facedown! Your go!"

Syrus drew his card. "Let's see…" He looked at the card he had just drawn and smiled. 'Oooh! My Patroid has enough power to take down Avian!'

"Hey, Syrus! What's that smile for, you got something good?" Jaden called out to him.

Panicking, Syrus nodded. "Uh… yeah I think so. Patroid ATK Mode!" He declared as a car you see from one of those old kid's show, complete with big eyes, and a police hat on its roof, its wheels sticking out like arms and legs appeared (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200). "Now, attack with Siren Smasher!" Patroid drove off towards Avian, its siren blaring and beaming out red lights, aimed straight at the winged Hero.

"Not so fast, Syrus! I play my Trap, Negate Attack!" Jaden declared as his facedown card rose upward. The Trap Card unleashed a strange vortex that forced Patroid backwards, away from Avian, leaving his Hero safe from attacking this turn.

"Aw man…" Syrus moaned. "I should've known your facedown was a Trap…"

"Duh… Syrus walked right into that one." Chumley muttered, shaking his head. "Can't believe he did that…"

"And he could've avoided that if he activated Patroid's ability…" Shadow added. "That's not like Syrus to make a mistake like that."

"Dirt is great, don't'cha think dirt is just the coolest thing Jaden?" Syrus asked as he made small designs in the dirt, his back to Jaden.

"Sy! Don't crack on me just yet, you just made one mistake, that's all." Jaden said.

Syrus turned around and rose to his feet, "Yeah, the mistake of coming to this school…"

Jaden shook his head. "No Sy, you just forgot to use Patroid's special power is all. He lets you check out one of your opponent's facedown cards once per turn. You could've _seen_ my Trap." He explained.

"Yeah, I know I'm no good!" Syrus looked away, eyes closed. "I don't belong here."

"Whoa, slow down there. I didn't mean anything like that!"

Syrus lowered his head. "I know that, Jaden… I know you didn't mean that. I know you're trying to help… It's just that…"

Jaden waved at him. "Naw look, you're right, I shouldn't butt in. We're opponent's right now and from here on out, we should act like it!" He drew his next card. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in ATK Mode!" Sparks rose out from out of the ground and the electrifying Hero appeared (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) "And now… I'll have Sparkman attack Patroid!" Sparkman created a spear of lightning and threw it hard, hitting Patroid directly in the middle. The Patroid let out a sad siren and exploded, blasted by the spear.

**Jaden:** 4000

**Syrus:** 3600

"And now, Avian, attack Sy!" Jaden declared. "Windstorm Strike!" Avian leapt into the air and beat his wings hard, creating a small cyclone of wind before diving right it and knocking Syrus clear off of his feet.

**Jaden:** 4000

**Syrus:** 2600

"Finally, I'll place a card facedown and that's it." Jaden said as a reverse card appeared on the field.

Syrus sat up, smiling slightly. "Can I crack up now? I just got nailed on both of our turns, I can't win!"

"Of course you can win Syrus!" Alexis called out to him. "You just have to believe in yourself!"

"That's right. The duel's barely even starting. It's not over 'til the last card is drawn!" Shaow encouraged.

"They're so right! Don't give up! I mean, duh! That's the first thing they teach you in Freshman Dueling class! I should know, I took it twice!" Chumley shouted.

"Are you serious?" Jade looked at Chumley with incredulity.

"And take this to heart, at times when I was looking for my sis without any solid leads, I felt like giving up, but thanks to my Shadow Heros cheering me on." He could hear the Shadow Heros spirit cheering from behind him. "So don't give up Syrus! See this through to the end!"

Syrus let the words sink in, and then looked at his deck. "They're right. I shouldn't give up the match so soon. Especially since I'm not only just dueling for myself, but for Jaden as well!" He took a deep breath and pushed himself from the dirt, "And if Shadow isn't giving up looking for his dad, then I won't be giving up in this duel!"

"That's the way Syrus." Shadow smirked.

Alexis giggled and looked Shadow. "You know, you're pretty good with words of encouragement…"

"Uh… thanks…" Shadow said blushing a from the complement But from the fact That Jade was glaring Daggers at him

"Well thanks to you, Syrus is back in the duel and not playing in the dirt." Jade said.

Alexis looked back down at her two friends on the beach. "The only question now is how he plays from here on out…"

"Alright… here goes nothing…" Syrus drew his next card and looked at his hand. _'Well… I don't have a monster that can take on Jaden right now. Looks like I'll have to go with a different strategy.'_ "I play the Spell Card, Pot of Greed! This allows me to draw 2 new cards from my deck!" Syrus drew two new cards. "Huh?!" Syrus stared at the pair of cards he just drew… one was Polymerization, and the other one he drew was Power Bond!

_'Judging from Syrus's face...he must've drawn a sweet card!'_ Jaden thought as he watched his friend stare at his cards.

Shadow looked over Syrus's hand. And saw that he had Gyroid, Steamroid, Limiter Removal, Shield Crush, Weapon Change, Polymerization, and Power Bond. _'He's got it! Syrus won! He just needs to play Power Bond to fuse Gyroid and Steamroid, play Limiter Removal, and it's over!'_ Shadow exclaimed in his thoughts.

"Power Bond's like Polymerization… only better." Syrus whispered to himself. "If I summon a Machine-Type Fusion monster with this card, it's Attack Points are doubled!" His shoulders slumped and closed his eyes. "Oh well… I'm not good enough to play this card… at least according to my brother… I'll never forget that day. It was back in grade school and I was dueling this really mean bully. It was my big chance to stand up to him, my big chance to show him that I couldn't be pushed around! But then Zane stopped the duel, and then he told me that using it just wasn't enough. Just holding this card again gives me the chills." Syrus muttered continued to look down at the card in his hand. "And what did he mean by that anyway?"

"Hey!" Jaden called out to him. "You alright over there, Sy?"

Snapping out of his trance, Syrus shook his head and looked at Jaden. "Uh… I'm fine. I play this Spell Card, Polymerization! Now, I'll use it to fuse the Gyroid and the Steamroid in my hand to create the Steam Gyroid!"

_'WHAT IS HE_ DOING_?!'_ Shadow yelled in his mind.

A swirling vortex opened up and a cartoony helicopter, and a toy train with the same cartoonish look were sucked into the vortex and moments later, a monster with the Steamroid's body and the Gyroid's fan blades appeared (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1800).

"Alright, Steam Gyroid, it's time to go loco–motive!" Syrus ordered. "Attack with Train Twister!"

Steam Gyroid rotated its fans rapidly, creating a tornado funnel that rose high into the air and curved around before slamming into Avian. The Winged Hero struggled for a few moments before hearing a loud whistling sound. Steam Gyroid soared through the funnel and rammed itself hard into Avian's chest.

**Jaden:** 2800

**Syrus:** 2600

"Gotcha!" Syrus taunted. "Had enough practice, Jaden?"

Jaden's shoulders shook as he laughed loud and hard. "Whaddya mean have I had enough? No way, Sy! You know the old saying 'No pain, no gain'…and with what I have planned, you're gonna get a lot!" He drew his card, "And you may be one of my best pals, Syrus, but now we're rivals and I have the cards to treat you like one! Now brace yourself! I play my Polymerization! Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman, unite!" He commanded as his large, clay Hero appeared on the field only to rise up into the air.

The air, which a large mass of storm clouds had gathered, thunder rolling and lightning bolts streaking across the sky as they disappeared. Soon, a huge figure descended from the sky, trailing clouds as it fell. (7/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1500)

"Here he comes, the Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

"This is bad for Syrus…" Alexis muttered.

Chumley looked at Alexis, "C'mon, it's just another monster…"

"Not just _any_ monster Chumley." Rika said. "Thunder Giant can automatically destroy one monster on the turn he's summoned, if the monster he's targeting has Attack Points that are less or equal to his own," she explained.

"Really?" Chumley's eyes widened. "Then I guess practice is getting out early for Syrus…"

"Syrus would've won last turn…" Shadow muttered.

"Huh?" Chumley and two girls asked looking at Shadow confused.

"Ok Thunder Giant, take out Steam Gyroid!" Jaden ordered his newly summoned Hero.

Thunder Giant roared and raised its finger to the heavens, using it as a lightning rod. A bolt struck it and he redirected it back up to the sky. Moments later, a shower of bright needles rained down upon Steam Gyroid, hammering it hard and fast. Steam Gyroid let out a panicked whistle before being wiped off the field.

Syrus lowered his arm as the smoke cleared. "Aw man… that leaves me defenseless!" he cried.

"Yeah, it does!" Jaden held up his card. "But I'm not done yet! Burstinatrix, I summon you in ATK mode!" He cried. The red–clad heroine appeared on the field. (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) "Now comes the tag attack!" He ordered. "Thunder Giant, Voltic Thunder!" Thunder Giant sent out a stream of electricity at Syrus with the latter screaming as his body was electrocuted, knocking him to his knees.

**Jaden:** 2800

**Syrus:** 200

"Now, Burstinatrix attack with Flare Storm!" Burstinatrix formed a fireball in her and sent it straight at Syrus in a stream of fire. Syrus backed away as the hologram flames engulfed him, depleting the rest of his life points.

**Jaden:** 2800

**Syrus:** 0

"And that's game!" Jaden said as he gave his signature two finger salute. "Pretty sweet duel, Syrus!"

Syrus slowly sat up from his fallen place and looked at his friend as he approached. "I dunno, Jaden… I didn't put up a good fight…"

"What are you talking about?" Jaden stopped, a few inches from Syrus. "Sure, I was able to pull it through at the end, but you pulled off some pretty sweet moves. You oughta be proud. Although, I got to admit, I _am_ curious about something… what was that one card you didn't play? You look excited." Before Syrus could stop him, Jaden bent down and pulled away the card his brother gave him. Jaden looked at it. "Power Bond? Why didn't you use it? Steam Gyroid's attack would've been doubled! And with Limiter Removal, you would've beaten me. On second thought, I think it was cool for me that you didn't play it."

"You don't understand…" Syrus stood up and snatched the card away. "My brother says I'm not good enough to play it and it's obvious that he's right…"

_'_That's _the reason why?'_ Shadow thought incredulously.

"It's also obvious that you won't be able to win the tag–match with me as your partner." Syrus murmured before running off down the beach.

"Hey, wait! Syrus!"

"Syrus!" Chumley yelled at him and ran to cut him off at the pass.

"Poor Syrus…" Jade murmured. Alexis and Shadow could only look on.

The waves crashed against the rocks as Alexis, Shadow, and Jade walked up to Jaden, who was looking out at the water.

"I guess practice doesn't make perfect… at least not with Syrus, it doesn't." Alexis said.

Jaden frowned. "I don't get it. Syrus is a cool guy, but he doesn't see what I see. He has a problem with believing in himself. He had this awesome spell card ready to play, but didn't play it why? Because of some brother telling him not too!" Alexis and Jade widened their eyes at that as they looked at each other and back at Jaden. The latter noticed it. "What is it Alexis and Jade? Am I missing something here?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" Shadow asked.

"Well… that brother of his goes to this school. And you've probably heard of him too…" Jade answered.

"I haven't." Shadow shook his head.

"Yeah, me neither… who are you talking about?" Jaden asked.

Alexis looked at the two boys with incredulity. "Hello? Third Year Obelisk student and number one duelist in the Academy? He's the big man on campus! Zane! And he's really good as his reputation!"

"Yeah? Well, I'll tell you Alexis…" Jaden turned back to the waves. "He doesn't sound like he's very good to his little brother."

"I hear ya on that." Shadow agreed. "What kind of brother tells his little brother that he's not good enough to play a card? It just doesn't make any sense."

"I wonder what happened to the two of them…" Jaden answered.

"Jaden… don't pry… It's their problem, don't get involved." Alexis warned.

Jaden grinned and punched his open palm. "Don't worry… I'm not gonna pry, Alexis. I'm gonna duel!" He looked at Alexis. "I'm gonna duel him and find out what's goin' on!"

"Jaden, you're not listening! _No_ one duels Zane!" Jade protested.

"Is this guy supposed to be untouchable?" Shadow asked crossing his arms raising his eyebrow. "If he's untouchable like the Undertaker with his WrestleMania streak of 20–0, I'd believe ya."

"He's won every duel during his three years here at Duel Academy! No one has beaten him! Not even the teachers _themselves_!"Jade explained.

"Okaay, never mind."

_"I bet I could beat him"_ Kratos said as he appeared _"HE WOULD NOT SEE THE THE END OF THIS DAY"_

"And besides, people duel Zane if their tag team partner isn't playing up to snuff because of him." Jaden shot back. "I wanna see how I stack up against this guy anyway…" He said with a grin.

"To be the man, you gotta beat the man." Shadow said.

"You know it." Jaden replied.

_'Well… if he's not going to listen to me_ or _Jade…'_ Alexis shook her head and smiled at him, "You go get him Jaden."

Jaden threw his fist into the air. "Yeah! Get ready and watch yourself, Zane! I'm coming for ya!" And with that he ran off.

"And there he goes." Jade sighed. "Well, I better get outta here."

"Same here. I gotta get going too." Alexis added.

"Alright then. I'll see ya two around. Especially you Princess" Shadow said.

"To right you will" Jade said with a please tell me that he dose not have a crush on Alexis tone.

Shadow pulled her in for a hug and whispered in her ear "_There is __none__ but you my princess" _Then planted a quick kiss on her lips and walked off.

"What was that about?"Alexis asked

"Oh nothing let's o back to the dorms" Jade answere


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: For Syrus's Sake

It was another day at Duel Academy as Jaden walked into the card shop and down on a table filling out a form of some sort. "I can't believe this Zane guy… It's because of him that Sy's got no confidence at all. If _my_ big bro told me that I wasn't good enough to use a good card, I'd be insecure too. But now… that's all gonna change." He paused his writing and tapped his cheek with his pencil. "I wonder… do you spell Zane with two N's? Man, these Duel Request forms are a drag…" Oh course, Jaden was too busy filling out the form, that he didn't notice Crowler creeping up behind him.

"Duel Request form?" Crowler reached over Jaden's shoulder and swiped the form away, scanning it. "Planning a duel eh? Against who?" His eyes bugged out and he smirked. "You must be joking…"

Jaden reached out, wanting to take back his form. "No, not really. I'm gonna take Zane on in a duel to boost Syrus' confidence for our upcoming tag team match." He explained.

"Ah yes, the big tag team duel… the one where if you both lose, you'll both be expelled?" Crowler said as he shook his head. "And you say that dueling Zane will prepare you for the match? Well that's too bad, because there will be no duel!" Jaden watched in horror as Crowler ripped his Duel Request form to bits and pieces, laughing as he did so.

"Look, it's not you, it's me. I'm sorry, but I just can't use you in my deck anymore. I gotta make room for another Koala…" Chumley sat on a tree branch, his deck spread out before him, and a Des Koala card in his hand. He looked at the deck, the card and nodded. "Yeah… fifteen oughta be enough."

"Lousy Dr. Crowler…"

"Huh?" Chumley wondered as he looked up to see Jaden walking coming close to Chumley's tree.

"Where does it say that those Duel Request Forms need to be filled out in triplicates? And with a #8 pencil?" Jaden asked himself as he stopped and crossed his arms not understanding what Crowler told him earlier. Just then some of Chumley's card fell on top of Jaden and Chumley started falling down until he held on hanging like a sloth. Jaden looked up to see where the cards came from and he saw Chumley too. "It's either a giant sloth, or it's just Chumley."

"Hey, Jaden…whaddup?" Chumley greeted, clinging onto the branch. Jaden looked down at his feet and saw the cards Chumley dropped. He bent down to picked up the cards. He couldn't help but laugh, "Chumley, there's like… a zillion koala cards down here!"

"Yeah, they so rule…" Chumley smiled. "Wanna have a pick–up duel against em?"

"Hey… a pick up duel!" Jaden smacked himself in the head. "Why didn't _I_ think of that? Thanks Chumley!" He turned back the way he came and started to run off.

"Where are you going?" Chumley yelled.

"The Obelisk Blue Dorm!"

"Why are you going there?!"

"A pick–up duel against Zane!"

"_The_ Zane?!" Chumley then lost his grip on the branch and fell down.

Meanwhile…

Shadow and Spirit were in his room looking over his deck, checking each card adding in or taking out a few spells or traps of his deck while the Hero spirits looked on. Shade was in the corner recharging Today he wore a black shirt with a gold Mech logo on it. He wanted to be ready for the upcoming expulsion duel. He needed to be, or else it's bye–bye Duel Academy. And speaking of expulsion duels, he was thinking about Jaden and Syrus's upcoming tag–team duel, but it was mostly about Syrus. Sure, his self–confidence definitely needed a boost, but it won't do that, unless he somehow, someway comes to terms with his brother.

_"What's on your mind Shadow?"_ Kratos asked as he watched his duelist fix his deck.

_"_Nothing, just thinking about Syrus and his issues," he replied.

_"Ah you mean he doesn't have any,"_ Maxwell stated. _"Just like The Riders before they became badasses."_ The Ghost Rider gave him a pointed glare but said nothing.

"It just doesn't make any sense. I mean what kind of brother tells his little brother that he's not good enough to play a card?" Shadow asked confused at the logic.

_"Apollo said this,"_ Kratos started to speak, _"One cannot truly understand a dish unless one tastes it."_

"Uh… what?"

_"I think Big-K is saying don't judge a book by its cover,"_ Slick explained. _"Maybe you should talk to Zane first to hear his side of the story."_

"Hmm… I… guess it doesn't hurt to try." Shadow said as he got his deck and duel disk and got up from his seat. "But first, I'm gonna have a talk with Syrus. And see if I can get him to come with me so we can talk this out." And with that, Shadow left his room along with Shade.

Back with Jaden, he planned on entering the Obelisk Blue dorm and taking on Zane in a duel to help with Syrus's confidence… at least, he planned on doing that, but that plan didn't go to effect because he was pushed to the ground by a couple other Obelisk students. This was gonna be no easy task. Dusting himself off, Jaden glared at the two Obelisk boys that barred his way. "What's your problem?" He demanded.

The first Obelisk, a boy with spiky brown hair shook his head, "I don't have a problem, but you're gonna have one soon if you don't beat it, Slifer Slacker!"

His friend, a boy with short black hair nodded. "Yeah, Zane wouldn't even waste his time with you. You're probably still wet behind the ears from Pre–Duel school!"

"Am not!"

And he shouldn't have said that too, because at that point, the first Obelisk boy emptied out a large bucket of water at him, soaking him from head to foot. The Obelisks laughed at the sight and started to walk off. "Now, you are…"

"We _will_ duel, Zane… one way or another…" Jaden growled.

The sun was setting and Shadow, Spirit, and Shade headed over to the Slifer dorm, when they got to the top of stairs he saw Chumley and Jaden, the latter drying off with a towel. "What happened to _you_?" Spirit asked.

"Tried to get Zane out of the Blue Dorm to come duel me, but these other Obelisks threw me out and then threw a bucket of water at me." Jaden grunted.

"Typical at what those Obelisks duel…" Shadow shook his head.

"What are you doing here?" Jaden asked as he shook the towel deep into his hair.

"I was thinking of having a talk with Syrus, and see if I can try to get his confidence back up. I plan on dueling Syrus too and then after that, find his brother and talk things out."

"Think that'll work?" Chumley asked.

"It's worth a shot." Shadow said.

"Hmm… alright, we'll try it." Jaden opened the door to his dorm room and the trio stepped in. Jaden, Kurogasa, and Chumley noticed Syrus was still in bed, wrapped up in his blanket.

"Why's Syrus sleeping in the middle of the day?" Shadow asked.

Jaden nudged the bundle, "C'mon Syrus get up! This is ridiculous, even _Chumley_ got up today!"

"Yeah, lousy bladder…" Chumley muttered under his breath.

But when Jaden pulled away the blankets, he only saw the bed was empty, "Hey… where is he?"

"Hey look…" Chumley found a note that fell out of the cover. "He left a note…" He then read it out loud…

"Dear Jaden, I'm leaving Duel Academy. Don't try and stop me, it's for the best. I'd only be holding you back if I stayed…"

"Oh for crying out to lord Hades…" Shadow muttered.

Jaden snatched the note and looked it over, then crumpled it up. "Syrus's not going anywhere! Not on my watch!"

Chumley nodded. "Yeah, let's go stop him… after dinner."

"Chumley!" Shadow and Jaden scolded. Jaden ran out the door, while yelling. "Not after dinner! Now!"

"Aw c'mon, tonight's grilled cheese day!" Chumley whined.

"You can make those any time, now c'mon! If you don't hurry and help us look, it'll be Syrus's _last_ day!" Shadow yelled as he ran out the door as well. When he got out, Jaden was already out of sight because he left running. Kurogasa went down the stairs and started running off as well. The Hero Spirits appeared floating behind him. "Everyone, Syrus has gone missing! Spread out and find him! He couldn't have gotten too far." Every one of them nodded and ran off to different areas of the island. Shadow himself was running along the coast. His eyes were searching for his friend. _'Where are you Syrus?'_ He thought worriedly.

Zane stood at his usual spot on the lighthouse dock, looking at the sunset, thinking about some things again. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see Alexis come up to him. Zane turned back to the sunset as Alexis came to his side. He glanced at Alexis, "Any news or trace yet?" He asked quietly.

She shook her head, "No… I can't believe he's still gone. I looked everywhere for a new sign, but I always come up empty–handed…"

Zane folded his arm. "Don't worry about it, you'll find him, just don't give up."

"I know. And I've got Shadow to help search too."

"Shadow… the one with the Shadow Hero cards right? You said something about his Sister making them and then he disappeared."

"Right, and he also dealt with someone who had cards that he thought weren't finished. Not to mention it still got him in trouble with the faculty…"

"That means he's a threat to someone who also had ties to those cards and his family…"

"Yeah… _Speaking_ of family…" Alexis looked at Zane. "I saw your brother the other day."

"Oh _did_ you now."

"Yeah, he lost at a practice duel with Jaden Yuki. Your name came up too, Zane… but not in a good way…"

"The big, bad, brother, huh?" Zane didn't even blink at this. "So what? He wants to scold me now?"

"Actually… he wants to _duel_ you." She replied.

"Alexis!" A voice called. The two Obelisks turned around to see Shadow and Spirit running towards her and bent down with their hands on their knees catching their breath.

"What's up?" Alexis asked.

"Have… you seen Syrus?" Shadow panted as he looked up at her. "He's… gone missing…"

"What?!" Alexis gasped. Zane scoffed a bit at this.

"He left a note to Jaden saying that he's leaving Duel Academy, and not to go after him, saying it's for the best or something like that…"

"And it _is_…" Zane spoke up. "He never belonged here…"

"What the heck's _that_ supposed to mean?" Shadow growled towards the Senior Obelisk. But then the Shadow Hero Duelist's eyes widened. "Wait… are you–"

"You seem to be catching on quick. That's right. I'm Syrus's brother. Zane Truesdale." The Kaiser introduced. "And you must be Shadow Nova, the one with the Shadow Hero cards I've heard about."

"What of it?"

"I've heard a lot about you and your duels. You've been causing quite a storm as of late."

"Is that so."

"Stay back, Jaden!" Zane, Shadow, and Alexis heard the voice and followed the noise and saw a small raft floating behind a couple of rocks near the docks, along with a large tuft of light–blue hair.

"It's Syrus!" Shadow recognized as he now ran over there. And he saw Jaden ready to stop Syrus from going. As Shadow ran over there, he watched as Syrus tried to push off in his raft, only to be stopped by Jaden jumping onto it, and in the process, making it split apart, sending the two of them into the water.

Syrus came to the surface, arms flailing. "Help me! I can't swim!" He yelled.

"And you were about to set off into the ocean?!" Jaden cried as Syrus wrapped his arms around his neck. "That makes a lot of sense!" The two of them then suddenly under the water, with Kuriboh watching from above as Chumley raced to help them.

"I'm coming, guys! Hold on!" He yelled before jumping into the water. Chumley opened his eyes to see that he was halfway out of the water and halfway in. He felt the ground and blinked. "It's shallow…" As if they heard him, Jaden and Syrus rose from under the water, completely soaked wet.

"Hey! You guys okay?!" A voice called. The three Slifers looked up to see Shadow on a nearby path a short ways above them.

"Yeah, we're fine Shadow!" Jaden called back.

Syrus rubbed his arms and glanced at his roommate, "Why did you come after me, Jaden?" He said, shivering, "I stink…"

"Well, the shower's a lot better than the ocean." Jaden laughed a little.

Syrus looked away. "They'll assign you a new tag team partner. Just let me go and you'll have a much better shot of winning the match without me…"

"Syrus, listen to yourself!" Shadow roared . "Jaden needs you for the upcoming tag team match, and you're just gonna bail out on him just like that?! Look, I know you're not confident in your dueling skills, I understand. That's why you have friends like Jaden, Chumley, and I to help you out! Jaden's not giving up on you and you can bet that _I'm_ not giving up on you!"

Jaden walked in front of him. "Yeah Sy, Shadow's right. And besides, that's just your brother talking! You gotta believe in yourself!"

"You gotta believe _me_!" Syrus sobbed. "I'm a lost cause…"

"He _is_ right, you know…" A cold voice interjected. All the Slifers and Ras looked to see Alexis and Zane coming up to Shadow looking down on the Slifers.

"Guys, meet Syrus's brother, Zane…" Spirit muttered as she arrived.

"That's Zane?" Jaden asked as he looked straight at the Senior Obelisk.

"You dropping out, little brother?" Zane asked.

Syrus nodded slightly. "Uh…yeah, kinda…"

"Hmph…" Zane closed his eyes and turned away. "It's about time…"

That remark made Syrus lower his head, feeling worse than he already did before. He turned away to floating logs that once made the raft. Jaden watched Syrus and shook his head, "He's wrong, Syrus…" But all he heard from Syrus was a loud sniffling sound. This got Shadow and Jaden angry.

"What kind of brother _are_ you?!" Shadow growled turning to him.

"Yeah, you're his big brother, how can you say that?!" He demanded.

"Because I know him." Zane said simply. Alexis gasped at the comment and made Shadow growl in anger even more.

"Yeah, I bet you know it all, huh? But you're wrong and I'm gonna prove it right now."

"No Jaden!" Shadow suddenly making Jaden look at him in shock, until Shadow said, "_We_ are gonna prove it right now. Let's duel, Zane! Jaden and I vs. you. 8000 point game with Jaden and I sharing the points." Syrus, Chumley, and Alexis gasped at this with Jaden grinning.

"Even better!" Jaden said liking the idea as well. "So whaddya say Zane?"

Syrus turned to his friend. "Jaden… Shadow…"

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Duel a Slifer _and_ a Ra?" He thought out loud before smiling. "Sure… why not? It's been awhile since I went _slumming_."

"I got a better Idea Zane my boy" A very familiar voice said. Everyone turned and saw Shadows mom and dad with duel discs and decks in hand.

"Mr Nova" Zane said not even flinching

"You duel us so that the kids can see how pro's play yes?" Mystic said whilst grinning

"Why not. Never got a chance last year so what better time than now right?" Zane said with a sliver of a smile

"Lets do this"

"DUEL!"

**Mystic/Demi:** 8000

**Zane:** 8000

"I'll start things off!" Mystic declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Spartan John:117 in ATK mode!" A bulky green armoured man with a gun in his hand appeared (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 2000). "And then I'll throw down a facedown while I'm at it." He said as a reverse card appeared on the field.

"That's all huh? Okay." Zane said as he drew his sixth card. "For my first move, I summon Cyber Dragon!" A metallic dragon rose from the ground and curled up behind its master. (5/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600) Now I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card."

Mystic's facedown was blown away by a miniature tornado. "Well that was fast…"

"Not as fast as your Life Points will go down. Cyber Dragon, attack 117 with Strident Blast!" Zane commanded. The metallic dragon rose and let out a stream of fire, engulfing Spartan completely.

**Mystic/Demi:** 6900

**Zane:** 8000

Syrus watched silently as his friend's parents was already on the track of losing this duel.

"Next…" Zane held up a card. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Different Dimension Capsule!" He declared as a strange looking Egyptian sarcophagus with a clock emblem in the center appeared. "This allows me to take a card from my deck, place it into the capsule, and in two turns, add it to my hand." Jaden watched as the capsule opened up, letting the hologram card inside and closing before sinking beneath the ground. "Wow…" He said, as he wiped the end of his nose. "That's gotta be the best card of his entire deck. I can't wait to see what comes outta there!"

_'_I _can…'_ Syrus thought miserably. _'Cause it's not gonna be pretty…'_

"I'll end my turn there…" Zane said. "Let's see what your Aliens can do Mrs. Nova."

"Gladly! My turn! Draw!" Demi declared drawing her sixth card. _'Nice.'_ Demi thought looking at the card and in her hand. Out loud, "I'll start off with Double Summon allowing me to summon twice this turn! So now I summon Covenant: Grunt and Covenant: Jackall in ATK mode!"

Two Aliens appeared. The first one was short and stocky and looked for all the world like a bipedal dog.(4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400).

The second one had a transparent shield attached to it's arm and looked like a roadkill dog and a bird were fused together (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1650).

"Now I'll activate the equip spell Needler and equip it to my Grunt"

The stocky alien pulled out a purple gun with transparent needles sticking out of it. Then he fired at Cyber dragon destroying it

"What happen to cyber dragon? Alexis asked

"Needler allows you to destroy one monster per turn" Shadow explained

"Now Grunt and Jackall attack him directly"

**Mystic/Demi:** 6900

**Zane:** 4600

"And now that we're in Main Phase 2, to replenish my hand, I'll play Card of Sanctity, allowing all of us draw until we have six cards!" Demi continued. Demi drew her full six while Mystic and Zane drew two. "Finally, I'll place a facedown and end my turn! And with the end of my turn.

"Lishus! She's got strong Monsters to defend herself and Mr. Nova and he got Zane near the half way mark!" Chumley cheered.

"Not bad." Zane commented as he drew his card to make his hand at seven. "Now that my field is empty again, I can bring out another Cyber Dragon…" Another metallic dragon appeared in front of Zane (5/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600) "…or better yet, two!" Zane held up a card. "I play the Spell Card, Monster Reborn! With just one Monster in my Graveyard, you can guess who I'm bringing back!" He said as his disk glowed and his first Cyber Dragon was revived, standing next to his second one (5/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600). "But neither would be here for long…" Zane took another card from his hand, Polymerization. "In present form anyway. Dragons unite!" He commanded as both monsters swirled together into a black void, "Cyber Twin Dragon, emerge!" From the void, a new monster appeared. It had the heads of both Dragons, but the body of one, each head with a different circle of color. One yellow and one blue. (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2100)

"Twin Dragon?!" Chumley stared at the new creature gaping, "One was tough enough already!"

"My Twin Dragon can attack twice this round! Meaning double the trouble for your Aliens and your Life Points! Twin Dragon, attack! "Double Strident Blast!" His two headed metallic dragon roared and let out two separate blasts, each one hitting Grunt and Jakall and destroying them into pixels.

**Mystic/Demi:** 4700

**Zane:** 4200

"I activate the Trap, Call of the Haunted!" Demi countered revealing one of her facedowns. "Since you destroyed my Monsters, I'll bring one of them back. And that's gonna be Alein: Grunt!".

"I'll place three cards facedown on the field and end my turn." Zane concluded as he placed two reverse cards on the field.

"Cool! Now it's my move! I play the Spell, The Warrior Returning Alive! This brings a Warrior–Type Monster back to my Hand. And I'll bring back 117." The card in question came out of the Graveyard and Mystic added it to his hand. "And now I'll use _my_ Polymerization, fusing 117 and A.I Cortana!" The said monsters appeared as another dark void appeared overhead sucking the two into the vortex. Several seconds later, a bright light shined.

"Here he is, the Master Chief!" Mystic said as a 117 came out in brand new armour that signified his new rank (6/ATK: 3100/DEF: 1200). "And now we're gonna change the scenery around here! I activate the Field Spell, Halo!" Mystic inserted the card into the Field Spell Zone, and… nothing happened.

"Hey what happened? I thought your dad just played a field spell" Jaden asked confused

"If you looked up maybe you would find your answer" Shadow sighed

Everyone looked u to see that there were now two moons in the sky and Earth had a metal ring around it what is more there was land above their heads.

A collective cry of "What the" Filled the air

To be continued…

A-N: Sorry it took so long to update but i had to think how to get my parents into a duel with their decks and yes they are based off the Halo game. Also I know that zanies duel was not in 2 parts but i need time to think. Also if anyone has some ideas on how to continue i'd be eternally grateful


	8. On Hold (sorry)

OK so I am stuck on how to continue This story however as zoo as i can go into part 2 of zanies duel with my parents or get all other Ideas out this story will be on Hold

So sorry

TranscodeShadowCerberus


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